Lima, Peru | Friday 04 July 2008 16:10 | | US$ - S/. 2.89
Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz
Claiming their rights are being violated and that it is necessary to establish a new contract with the municipality of Lima, students from the University of San Marcos continue to protest the construction of a bypass next to and on university grounds.
They took to the streets of Lima on Thursday, marching towards the country's congressional offices.
Thousands of students marched through the streets of downtown Lima demanding authorities cease construction work in and around the university.
Motorists and pedestrians showed their displeasure as the dean of the university and his students blocked off some of the capital's main streets.
Protests did not end with the march, however. Students began to destroy what constructions workers had built on Thursday evening, making workers angry and sparking a battle between the two groups.
At least 15 students were injured as construction workers responded by throwing rocks and Peru's national police began firing tear gas.
It was reported that one of the worst injuries was a student that had to receive 15 stitches after a rock hit him in the head.
Riots broke out in May as construction workers from the Municipality of Lima began working much closer to the university.
They were controlled but began once again early this week when students arrived to the university and found that one of their walls had been demolished.
The municipality has assured that this was part of a contract signed between municipal authorities and the university, explaining that agreements were reached months and in some cases years ago.
The municipality has also affirmed a new wall is to be built within 20 days.
The Municipality of Lima has stated that construction work will not stop and requested that Peru's national police provide the necessary security.
The University of San Marcos, the oldest officially established university in the Americas, agreed to grant the Municipality of Lima 28,000 square meters (301,389 square feet) of land for the construction of the new bypass.
Peru's Minister of the Interior, Luis Alva Castro announced on Wednesday that the quantity of drugs confiscated in 2008 would be more than double what was seized in 2007.
After months of harsh criticism and claims of ineffective police work, Peru's national police finally captured the fugitive former police escort known as "Lady B".
Shortly after declaring that former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori was not responsible for the massacre of civilians at a barbecue and university students from La Cantuta University, former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos announced that he would make no further statements.
Vladimiro Montesinos, the former head of Peru's National Intelligence Service during the 1990s, testified Monday morning that he and ex-President Alberto Fujimori were not involved in the death squad killings Fujimori is on trial for.
The rivalry between fans of Peru's top football clubs escalated to a higher level on Wednesday when a 22-year-old man was shot and killed as he made his way to an Universitario match.
Edisón Tejada Bravo, a 38-year-old tourism van chauffeur that was accused of running over a female police officer during this year's EU-LAC summit, is to be released from jail.
Representatives from the Central Reserve Bank of Peru filed charges after 1.75 million soles, which were brought from Europe by a shipping company, came up missing.
Agents from a special forces unit of Peru's national police caught four criminals in the Lima district of La Victoria on Monday as they were preparing to rob a bank.Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori and his most trusted advisor Vladimiro Montesinos will see each other face to face once again.
The two will meet on Monday June 30 in the courtroom where Fujimori has been on trial for almost seven months.
According to the hearings schedule, the former nominal head of Peru’s national intelligence agency, Julio Salazar Monroe is to be questioned on Wednesday by Fujimori’s lawyer, Cesar Nakazaki.
It has been pointed out that Salazar’s lawyer is part of Souza/Nakazaki law firm, of which Fujimori’s lawyer is a main partner.
Salazar will then be questioned by the court on Friday and it has been planned that Montesinos will be in court on Monday, which is Fujimori’s 76th hearing.
Nakazaki has affirmed that he is calm and awaiting the former presidential advisor’s testimony.
“I don’t know what Montesinos could say on military intelligence,” said Nakazaki, explaining that Fujimori’s advisor had been in charge of handling “non-military intelligence”.
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