PCP-SL advance groups visit communities in the Huallaga region
At the beginning of 1982, advance groups of the PCP-SL visited communities on the left bank of the Huallaga, from Venenillo to La Morada and Huamuco, gathering villagers to announce new rules and preach the armed struggle in defense of coca.
In early 1982, advance groups of the PCP-SL began visiting communities along the left bank of the Huallaga River from Venenillo to La Morada and Huamuco. These groups would gather the villagers, tout their politics and announce the new rules that the villagers would have to abide by if they wanted to stay. Wearing black polo shirts, ski masks and carrying shotguns, trappers and revolvers, these early groups preached the need for armed action against the State to reclaim coca. They argued that peaceful strikes would not achieve significant concessions, thus laying the groundwork for PCP-SL territorial control in the region.