Loss of support from MRTA due to abuse and extortion

Between 1990 and 1992, the MRTA significantly lost the support of the local population in San Martin due to multiple factors. The main one was the abuse of the quotas with which they extorted money from the few remaining businessmen in the region. In addition, many of their hastily recruited militia members engaged in criminal practices that alienated the population. Another determining factor that led to the MRTA debacle was its coexistence with drug trafficking since the late 1990s. This loss of political and social legitimacy was crucial for the weakening of the MRTA's Northeastern Front in the region.