Murder of 37 ronderos in Santo Tomás de Pata

In November 1991, a Shining Path column raided the district of Santo Tomás de Pata and killed 37 members of the peasant patrols. This attack took place in the context of a PCP-SL offensive against the Self-Defense Committees, considered by the Shining Path as the main obstacle to its political-military project. The deaths were the result of a direct confrontation between the Shining Path columns and the peasants organized in CAD's, who were determined to respond head-on to the PCP-SL. In spite of this attack, the peasant resistance continued to bear fruit and the armed columns of the PCP-SL began to retreat until they ceased to act in these areas.