After the self-coup carried out on Sunday, April 5, by the then president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, with the support of the Armed Forces, the resulting government, called the Government of Emergency and National Reconstruction, dissolved or intervened in the democratic institutions, alleging the parliamentary blockade, the ineffectiveness of the Judiciary and the terrorist threat of the subversive groups Shining Path and Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.

This regime consolidated its power thanks to the successful operation to capture Abimael Guzmán, leader of Shining Path, and his leadership, and the political repression of the opposition.

[1] The military conspirators, led by retired generals Jaime Salinas Sedó [es], José Pastor Vives and Víctor Ernesto Obando Salas,[2] planned an operation under the protection of the right to insurrection enshrined in the 1979 Constitution.

[3][4] Salinas and his allies did not intend to take power, but rather to restore democratic order and hand over command of the nation to Máximo San Román, then president by constitutional succession but not recognised.

[1][4][5][6] The plan was to arrest Alberto Fujimori, Nicolás Hermoza Ríos [es], head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, and presidential advisor Vladimiro Montesinos at dawn.