Sendero Massacres 39 Villagers
This cable discusses Sendero Luminoso’s murder of 39 Canaire villagers in the Department of Ayacucho. After giving a detailed account of the massacre, based on the testimony of survivors, the report mentions that human rights sources have speculated that the killings were in response to the villagers efforts to organize civil defense patrols to defend against Sendero attacks. The document also suggests that the attack may have been related to illicit coca production in the Mantaro River