Saturnino Paredes was a Peruvian lawyer, professor and leader of the Confederation of Peasants of Peru. He was born into a peasant family in the Peruvian department of Ancash on January 19, 1920.
He graduated as a lawyer from the National University of San Marcos in Lima, and starting in the 1940s, he was involved with the Peruvian Communist Party. In 1947, he participated in the founding of the Confederation of Peasants of Peru and was appointed its legal advisor.
In 1964, he led a struggle against the pro-Moscow leadership of the Peruvian Communist Party. After the expulsion of that faction, he led the "Peking" faction in forming a new PCP, which would become known as the "Red Flag" due to its official spokesperson.
Over time, he came into conflict with other Maoist leaders within the Red Flag and, after a series of mutual expulsions, gradually lost influence in the Peruvian left. From the ruins of the Red Flag, he established the Peruvian Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) and began to ideologically align with the positions of Enver Hoxha and the Party of Labour of Albania.
In 1978, he led the formation of the Popular Democratic Front (FEDEP), and he was elected to the Constituent Assembly of 1979 as its representative.
He passed away on March 24, 1996, due to a stroke suffered on December 5 of the previous year.