Land takeovers in Andahuaylas and Chincheros
In 1974, the FEPCA organized the simultaneous seizure of 68 of the 118 haciendas in Andahuaylas and Chincheros, achieving that by 1977 the land was in the hands of the participating peasants. This successful movement constituted an important precedent for the subsequent entry of the PCP-SL in the area.
In 1974, the Andahuaylas Provincial Federation of Peasants (FEPCA), led by Julio César Mezzich, Lino Quintanilla and Félix Loayza, organized the largest peasant mobilization of the decade with the objective of totally eliminating the hacienda system and adjudicating land to peasant families. Of the 118 haciendas in Andahuaylas and Chincheros, 68 were taken over simultaneously by the peasants. By 1977, the land was in the hands of those who participated in the movement. The land seizures in Andahuaylas were almost similar to what happened in La Convención and Lares at the end of the 1960s and were equally successful. Years later, Julio César Mezzich, the main 'caudillo' of the land seizures in 1974, would become one of the main regional cadres of the PCP-SL.