In 1994, Acuña and her husband bought 27 hectares of land in Tragadero Grande, Sorochuco District, province of Celendin, department of Cajamarca.

One week later she was sentenced to pay 200 soles (about US$70) to Yanacocha, to leave her land within 30 days and three years in jail (suspended) for illegal squatting.

On 5 May 2014 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States asked the Peruvian government to adopt precautionary measures for 46 leaders of campesino communities and patrols, including the Acuna family.

"[9] As of April 2016[update] Newmont Corporation has continued to claim ownership saying it "exercise[s] the possession of the site by planting in the area recently plowed by the family.

[4] A Cajamarca newspaper called her "Dama de las lagunas" akin to the character of Rosendo Maquì from the novel "El mundo es ancho y ajeno" (Broad and Alien is the World) by Ciro Alegría.