It was a turning point in the Operativo Independencia, a domestic Argentine military intervention aimed at eradicating guerrilla activities in Tucumán province, as well as eliminating so-called subversive elements.

[3] The PRT-ERP learned of a daily military supply transport between Acheral and Tafí del Valle and decided to carry out an ambush on 7 October.

[2] In the early hours of 8 October, a conscript and Jorge Carlos Molina (nom de guerre "captain Pablo") were killed in another Army ambush.

This information reached a task force at 10:30, which in turn relayed it to its superior officers, who ordered three Bell UH-1 Iroquois attack helicopters to be sent to the area.

[4] The Mountain Company held a meeting between 15 and 16 October in which demobilization and retreat towards the cities of Córdoba and Buenos Aires was decided.