Assassination of three Asháninka leaders by MRTA in Oxapampa

At the end of 1989, an MRTA column assassinated three Asháninka leaders in the province of Oxapampa. Among the victims was Alejandro Calderón, pinkátzari (great chief) and president of ANAP (Apatyawaka Nampitsi Asháninka), the federation that groups 52 native communities of the Pichis River and tributaries. The Asháninka reacted quickly to the assassination of their leader, forming what became known as the 'Asháninka army'. This assassination occurred in a context where the Asháninka of the Pichis and tributaries no longer tolerated abuses, and the assassinated leader had previously collaborated with the Army in the capture of MIR guerrillas in 1966.