Shining Path incursion in Alto Huallaga
In 1981, the Shining Path began its presence in Alto Huallaga, taking advantage of the cocalero farmers' discontent against drug trafficking and state repression. They presented themselves as defenders of the peasants and began to form bases in various villages in the area.
In 1981, the PCP-SL (Shining Path) appeared in Alto Huallaga, taking advantage of the climate of social chaos created by drug trafficking. They presented themselves as the executioner of a corrupt and inefficient bureaucratic state and assumed the supposed defense of the interests of coca growers, who were being attacked by the abuses of drug traffickers and state repression of coca leaf cultivation. Sendero took advantage of the moment when the State was indiscriminately eradicating and burning coca fields to form its bases in different villages. The population of Alto Huallaga in 1981 reached 134,600 inhabitants, in an area that had experienced accelerated demographic growth due to migration and the boom in coca cultivation.