Intense agitation and propaganda in the shanty towns (barriadas) surrounding the cities of Barranca, Huara, Huacho, and Huaray took place. Mass rallies led by armed contingents of the People's Army demonstrated in those cities. Huge red flags with the hammer and sickle were hurled celebrating the anniversary of the revolution. At the same time, another group of Maoists supported by the majority of the population, took over the towns in the valley of Pativilca and Barranca, Cajatambo, Oyon, Huarua, Huarai. In these areas, the people's committees were expanded, thus consolidating the New Power. On the other hand, the reactionary armed forces have installed new military bases in the cities of Cajatambo, Churin and Rapez. From these bases, they have been implementing their genocidal policies, including the organization of paramilitary forces (in Peru known as rondas or mesnadas.) These army-run paramilitaries, including thieves, snitches and lumpen elements at the service of Fujimori, who had been using the name of the PCP to carry out extortions, were captured and publicly executed.A Big Landlord Poblete in the Town of Barranca was summarily executed. With massive participation of the people (more than 2,000), Mr. Poblete, the king of "potato crops" in the region, who ruthlessly exploited the peasants, profited with high mortgage interests and despoiled the lands of the community, was repudiated by his former slaves in a public rally. He thought that by running away to a nearby army post, he would save his skin, but unfortunaly, while fleeing away, his bulletproof vehicle was dynamited, and his Foreman (a close bootlicker of the military), was annihilated.
Stunning blackouts were carried out in Barranca and Huacho, and the transmission towers in the localities of Cahua and Mantaro were smashed. More than one hundred flares were launched by the masses on the skies of Barranca, Supe, Huaura and the other towns in the valley of Barranca. These actions put in desperation the reactionaries and Fujimori's Armed Forces who murdered a cab driver and arrested masses of innocent civilians. All of them were accused of being "terrorist suspects," and extorted their relatives with large amounts of money for their release.
In the Town of Supe, led by a contingent of the PCP's People's Army of Liberation, 150 workers and their families seized the huge asparagus farm and the factory of "San Nicholas" (it also produces flowers) owned by German imperialist landowner Peter Ulrich, who also exploits peasants in his farms located in the localities of Sayan, Santa Rosa, Anhuasi, and in the Callejon de Huaylas farm, known as " Flor del Per£." The people of Supe, who were mostly women, easily subdued Ulrich's security personnel and proceeded to take over the farm. The tools, fertilizers, and other products of the factory's warehouse were distributed. Immediately, a people's trial against Peters' henchmen took place. This included the production chief and other agents of the military, who cruelly mistreated and exploited the workers (mainly women) with miserable salaries of 1.5 soles daily (60 cents of a U.S. dollar per day.)
In addition, women workers charged the accused with rape, black mail and harassment.. An orderly disposition of their claims was rendered: Peter's henchmen were annihilated, the factory was torn down and all production stopped. The workers only agreed to do fieldwork. Finally, after deliberating the weight of the charges against the accused, and after hearing no remorse by the defendant during the due-process trial, the People's Tribunal sentenced Peter Ulrich to the maximum penalty: He was to be executed by the revolution, because this miserable imperialist accumulated land by despoiling the peasants. He bought land from the peasants at very low prices, and then he mortgaged portions of these lands to the same peasants at high interest. With the help of the military and government authorities, Ultrich has accumulated 120 hectares of land in only two years. The next in line to be tried was Ulrich's crony, the Peruvian big landowner Raul Mendez, who was executed for being a merciless exploiter, rapist and despot.
In a parallel action, another contingent of the People's Army, dynamited the offices of SUNAT (the Peruvian tax collector), of the city of Huacho as well as the offices of the City Council of the city of Santa Maria, whose mayor is tied to an Argentinian consortium involved in the production and processing of asparagus in the Huaura valley. In a nearby location (Chacaca Ranch), an elite detachment of the PCP's People's Army, ambushed the jeep of Air Force General Juan Olivera Angeles, a former member of Fujimori's Armed Forces Joint Command (who was also a big landowner.) He and his two bodyguards were annihilated, and his submachine gun confiscated. In retaliation, the reactionary armed forces led by Air Force Captain Carlos Olivera (a brother of General Olivera), has threatened to disappear the masses of the towns of Huaura, Chacaca, Santa Rosa and May 3th.
On April 4, 1997, three economic targets were hit with powerful bombs in the Districts of Comas, San Juan de Lurigancho (Cantogrande) and San Borja. The explosions in Cantogrande and Comas completely destroyed their targets. (La Republica, April 21, 1997) A report from Dincote indicated that on March 25, 1997, during a clash with the Maoist guerrillas two special commandos of the police were killed. A week before, on March 12, 1997, PCP paintings appeared on the main highway of Lima (Carretera Central) and on March 16, 1997, a bomb wrapped in a red flag was deactivated by the police in the bridge of Huachipa. On March 15, 1997 a textile factory that fired all its workers in order to hire new ones with lower wages, was set on fire (La Republica, March 21, 1997.) Also in Lima combatants of the People's Army in a coordinated way posted red flags in all districts of the capital, especially on Carretera Central, Plaza de la Bandera, Comas, Cantogrande, San Juan de Lurigancho, etc. celebrating the 17th Anniverary of the People's War.
LIMA: PCP METROPOLITAN COMMITTEE