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Maria Elena Moyano during an assembly in Villa El Salvador.
María Elena Moyano during a community assembly in Villa El Salvador. María Elena Moyano, deputy mayor of Villa el Salvador and president of the Federación Popular de Mujeres of that district, had the courage in 1992 to confront Sendero Luminoso by publicly denouncing the subversives' maneuvers to control the social organizations of her community. She thus defended her people's right to fight for social improvements through democracy and freedom. On February 14, 1992, Sendero Luminoso called for an armed strike. María Elena Moyano, along with other leaders from Villa El Salvador, called a rally in defiance of it. On February 15, a Senderista assassination squad shot her at a social gathering and dynamited her body.