Massacre of April 12, 1989 at Chongos Alto
On April 12, 1989, approximately fifty Shining Pathists took over the plaza of Chongos Alto and carried out a massacre against villagers who had agreed to oppose the PCP-SL. This Shining Path reprisal accelerated the organization of peasant patrols in the area.
On April 12, 1989, between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m., a column of approximately fifty Shining Pathists took the main square of Chongos Alto and carried out a massacre against villagers who had agreed to oppose the PCP-SL. This repressive action was a response by the PCP-SL to the agreements made by the villagers in previous meetings, where they decided to resist the increasing demands of the subversives. Verbal and physical abuse, demands for food, destruction of local infrastructure and the prohibition to trade with other regions had created the conditions for the villagers' opposition. Some villagers believe that the massacre was instigated by Huasicancha villagers, who accused residents of Chicche, Llamapsillón and Chongos Alto of wanting to denounce members of the Shining Path column.