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Less than a century ago, HUARAZ - some 400km from Lima - was still a fairly isolated community, barricaded to the east by the dazzling snowcapped peaks of the Cordillera Blanca and separated from the coast by the dry, dark Cordillera Negra. Between these two mountain chains the powerful Rio Santa has formed a valley, the Callejon de Huaylas , a region with strong traditions of local independence. In 1885 the people of the Callejon waged a guerrilla war against the Lima authorities, which led to the whole valley being in rebel hands for several months. The revolt was sparked off by a native leader, the charismatic Pedro Pablo Atusparia, and thirteen other village mayors protesting over excessive taxation and labour abuses. They were sent straight to prison and humiliated by having their braided hair (a traditional sign of status) cut off, so the local peasants reacted by overrunning Huaraz, freeing their chieftains, and expelling all officials before looting the mansions of wealthy landlords and merchants (many of them expatriate Englishmen who had been here since the Wars of Independence). The rebellion was eventually quashed by an army battalion from the coast, which recaptured Huaraz while the Indians were celebrating their annual fiesta. But even today, Atusparia's memory survives close to local hearts, and inhabitants of the areas' remote villages remain unimpressed by the claims of central government.
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