News of December 25, 1996
Hostage Crisis in Lima: The Name Tupac Amaru in the Headlines
A rebel group in Peru bore the same name as the dead rapper. In December 1996, the Los Angeles Times explained what connects both to an Inca.
In December 1996, a rebel group held hostages in Lima, the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. To young music fans in the US, the name sounded familiar, the Los Angeles Times wrote on December 25: Tupac Amaru Shakur, the rapper shot in Las Vegas in September, bore it as well.
From Inca Ruler to Guerrilla
The newspaper explained the common root. Afeni Shakur had named her son after Tupac Amaru, a sixteenth-century Inca ruler who led the last resistance against the Spaniards and was executed in 1572. In the 18th century, José Gabriel Condorcanqui invoked him, led a peasant uprising against the colonial masters in 1780, and was executed in 1781. In 1984, a leftist group adopted the name, which was now behind the hostage-taking.
More on the origin and meaning of the name: The Name Tupac Amaru.