9 people murdered in Santa Carmen

On December 15, 1983, a Shining Path column entered the community of Santa Carmen, in the district of Chungui, killing 9 people. This attack was part of the PCP-SL's strategy to eliminate local opposition that represented an obstacle to its expansion in the area. The Shining Path columns sought to 'execute' the 'informers' who had committed themselves to the vigilante organization, who were generally the community authorities, i.e. the oldest members of the community. The elimination of 'gamonales' and 'gamonalillos', according to Shining Path definitions, implied that in all the communities and annexes of the district of Chungui there was at least one murder of either an authority or a person who had more animals than the average, accusing him of being a 'gamonal'.