violence came back

The crying eye is a memorial for the 70,000 people who died during the armed conflict. Some of them during Fujimori's mandate. The main sculpture represents a crying eye (mourning for the 70,000 deaths) and is sorrounded by a labyrinth of stones that have the name of a victim painted over. I took this picture last year when I visited it.

Fujimori, our former president, has been extradited by Chile. He is facing now 7 trials, most of them for crimes against humanity. He got to Peru on Saturday and on Sunday, 15 people went to where the memorial is, tied up the guardian, destroyed the stones and painted the sculpture with orange paint (the color of Fujimori's party).

The Fujimoristas that attacked this sculpture are trying to show the public that Fujimori is back and that terrorists or communists (which to them are the same) should fear. For them, the names of the victims are that of terrorists (in fact, they killed peasants and innocent people because they saw them as terrorists or potential terrorists). Fujimori instrumentalized fear during his mandate. And his followers only know that.

For us, we do not fear. We want justice and we will fight for it. Peru will make history by putting him into prison for his crimes against humanity. I trust my fellow Peruvians, especially those involved in human rights organizations.

Justice will be made.

b'day...

not today but in less than a month, this may be my answer to this question...

working and working

These past weeks I have been promoting my new program in Peru. This has taken me to Montreal (LASA) where we had a booth and talked to people about the great aspects of this new program.

I am in Indy now, after having travelled to Oklahoma, San Antonio and Austin. I have enjoyed meeting faculty and study abroad advisors. Tomorrow I will go to Ithaca, Boston and NYC and then back to Lima.

Even though I am very happy of having this job, my dissertation is not going as fast as I would like it to go. But, well, one has debts to pay for... student loans. The irony of grad life: once you become an ABD, you have to start working to pay for the student loans you got to study in a PhD program instead of being able to write your dissertation and finally become the doctor you wanted to be (and the reason why you went to grad school in the first place).

Life is so bizarre.

Back to writing my dissertation...