Assassination of the mayor of San Juan de Salinas, Zenobio Huarzaya
On April 8, 1987, the PCP-SL publicly assassinated the mayor of San Juan de Salinas, Zenobio Huarzaya of IU, in front of 200 people in the town square, despite the pleas of the population.
On April 8, 1987, seven men and two women of the PCP-SL dragged Mayor Zenobio Huarzaya from his home to the plaza while his wife and children looked on in despair. They knelt him down in front of 200 people and asked if they would kill him. The people clamored not to do so, asking them to give him time to resign, to which the terrorists indicated that they were at war and that Huarzaya was working for the government anyway. By the end of October 1986, San Juan de Salinas was already a town without authorities or representatives due to Shining Path pressure. This assassination was part of the PCP-SL's systematic campaign to eliminate local authorities in the northern Puna highlands.