3,600 students in Trujillo, Peru to protect tourist sites

Students from Huancavelica National University in central Peru remain on strike despite concessions by the government in a conflict that has left three people dead, hundreds injured and several regional government buildings sacked and burned to the ground.

Since mid-June clashes have erupted between the people and students of Huancavelica.

The strike continues despite guarantees by the outgoing government of President Alan García that their university will not share budget, premises and teachers with the newly-created National Autonomous University of Tayacaja, which has been criticised as a hastily built pork-barrel project.

After winning the battle over their institution's resources, Huancavelica National University (HNU) students have turned against what they claim is a corrupt and inept administration. The resignation on 6 July of Rector Yda Camposano seems to have not solved matters.

Students are now calling for HNU to be completely restructured. Many teachers, however, say restructuring would be counterproductive. The final decision on how to proceed is now in the hands of an investigative team from the National Assembly of Rectors (NAR), which arrived in Huancavelica on 14 July.

A radio report from Huancavelica seems to have added fuel to the fire by reporting that the HNU had faired poorly in a just-released ranking by a national NGO that measures the transparency of Peru's public universities.

Huancavelica is only one of several conflicts in Peru related to the creation of new universities. Thirteen new public universities have been launched in the past five years. These have been added to the existing 35 public and 65 private universities.

Angelica Villanueva Guerrero, regional tourism deputy, stated that between April and June, fourth and fifth year students had been trained across 40 high schools in the city.

According to the report in Andina, Guerrero said that training would be divided into phases. In the first, the students would receive training that emphasized the importance of tourism, explaining the main attractions in the city and raising awareness of environmental conservation.

Then, she said, students would visit the main attractions in the city, including the Temples of the Sun and the Moon, the Chan Chan archeological zone, as well as old colonial houses and churches in the city.

The last stage of training, will involve the creation of a tourism club, which would be in charge of continuing the work done.