| Augusta La Torre | |
| Birth Date: | 29 August 1946 |
| Birth Place: | Huanta, Ayacucho, Peru |
| Death Place: | Peru |
| Party: | Shining Path |
| Spouse: | Abimael Guzmán |
Augusta Deyanira La Torre Carrasco (29 August 1946 – 14 November 1988), also known as Comrade Norah, was a Peruvian communist, recognized as the number two in command of Shining Path. La Torre's influence on her husband, Shining Path founder Abimael Guzmán, is credited with establishing equality for women with regard to participation within the revolutionary organization, and during its militant actions.[1]
Augusta La Torre was born in Huanta in 1946 into a land-owning family with a prominent political lineage,[2] later leaving to study in Ayacucho as a teen. The daughter of Communist party leader Carlos La Torre Córdova and Delia Carrasco, "she grew up in a family where political activity, party membership and protest against the Peruvian state were routine, making it unsurprising that she too entered radical politics." She joined the Peruvian Communist Party in 1962 at the age of 17. She met Abimael Guzmán, a professor of philosophy, through her parents. Guzman was a regular guest to their home in Ayacucho, meeting with La Torre's father to discuss politics. In February 1964, she married Guzman.[3] La Torre also encouraged Guzman to establish the Popular Women's Movement in Ayacucho in 1965. She was active within the Maoist political organization, Bandera Roja (Red Flag), and helped found the Socorro Popular del Peru (People's Aid of Peru).[4]
La Torre was instrumental in helping Guzman to create the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso).[5] [6] On the 24th December 1980, the Inicio de la Lucha Armada, she led the first attack of the Shining Path on a small farm, Hacienda San Agustín de Ayzarca, which culminated on the torture and murder of the farm manager, Benigno Medina and a 19 year old worker named Ricardo Lizarbe.[7] She went into hiding with Guzman in 1978 and died in November 1988, although the circumstances of her death remain unclear.[8]