The political responsibilities for what happened have long been the subject of controversy in Chile, with much of the blame being placed on then Minister of the Interior Edmundo Pérez Zujovic, who would be assassinated in revenge two years later by a far-left urban guerrilla organization.
[1] Supported by socialist Luis Espinoza, local authority and recently elected congressman, they intended to obtain a legal expropriation for non-use of the land (possible in Chilean legislation of that time) and be able to build their future homes there.
In the context of incipient land reform and the proliferation of campamentos (shantytowns) throughout the country due to the lack of housing to sustain the growing rates of rural-urban migration, these actions were not uncommon in the Chile of the time.
However, the improvised alarm systems (cans tied with wire at low heights)[2] that the occupants had installed, allowed for them to react, armed with sticks and stones.
On June 8, 1971, under the government of the socialist president Salvador Allende, a cell of the Organized Vanguard of the People (VOP) assassinated Edmundo Pérez Zujovic, justifying his actions as revenge for the massacre in Puerto Montt.