The revolution in Huando: A battle for the Peruvian agrarian reform (1969-1973)

Among many conflicts that arose during the implementation of the Agrarian Reform in Peru, the confrontation between the workers’ union and the owners of the Hacienda Huando stood out. After months of struggle, Juan Velasco Alvarado’s military government (1968-1975) yielded to the workers’ demands and expropriated the entire estate - widely seen as an emblem of modern agricultural enterprise - paving the way for the creation of a cooperative. Using a variety of sources, such as the hacienda archives, newspaper articles, presidential speeches, interviews and the draft minutes of the Council of Ministers’ meetings, this article analyzes how the Velasco Alvarado government used the case of Huando as an anti-oligarchic symbol, and how this conflict in turn marked a key rupture in relations between the military regime and the large landowners.