Murder of 48 community members in Acosvinchos
Massacre perpetrated by the PCP-Sendero Luminoso in January 1990 in Acosvinchos, Ayacucho, which resulted in the murder of 48 community members. The event was part of the intensification of Shining Path violence during the 1988-1991 period.
In January 1990, the PCP-Sendero Luminoso perpetrated a massacre in the town of Acosvinchos, killing 48 community members. This event took place in the context of the intensification of the internal armed conflict between 1988-1991, a period in which the PCP-SL launched a new offensive after declaring the transition to the "strategic balance" stage. The massacre was part of the Shining Path's strategy to increase pressure on peasant communities and unleash a new wave of violence in the region. This event occurred at a time when the peasant patrols were living a second experience of sustained confrontations with the PCP-SL, coinciding also with bad harvests due to weather conditions that accentuated the peasants' rejection of the Shining Path columns.