 The memorial was built primarily as a way to commemorate the roughly 70,000 victims of the violence committed by both the Peruvian military government and the radical guerrilla group attempting to fight against the government and all those who opposed their communist ideologies.The primary guerrilla group was the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso in Spanish), a radically communist "terrorist" group who resisted those who opposed them through radical actions, including violence.The government armed forces only added to the violence by fighting the guerrilla group.