A ceremony was held on the floor of Peru’s Congress Dec. 13 to commemorate the 1984 massacre of over 100 campesinos by army troops at the village of Putis, in south-central Ayacucho region. A full Congress honored the presence of Aurelio Condoray Curo, vice president of the Putis Political Violence Survivors Association, and families from the village. That same day, a Caravan for the Reconstruction of Putis left for the village with trucks of material aid from the Ayacucho city of Huamanga. The efforts were promoted by lawmaker María Soledad Pérez Tello, president of the Congressional Human Rights Commission. The local municipality of Huanta is still in the process of identifying bodies that have been unearthed from more than 40 mass graves in and around Putis.
The investigation is being overseen by a Multisectoral High-Level Commission (CMAN) created to provide reparations to the victims and survivors of the war with the Shining Path guerillas. Condoray (also rendered Condorai) said, “Despite 28 years having transpired from this lamentable episode, the families of those massacred have still not received just reparations in health and education.” (Diario La Voz, Huamanga Dec. 14; Diario La Voz, Dec. 13)
