38 The Harding University in Latin America (HULA) program rearranged its plans at the start of the spring semester due to political protests in Peru that made transportation in the country unreliable. HULA students flew into Lima, Peru on Feb. 2 and then went to Buenos Aires, Argentina instead of flying straight into Arequipa, Peru, where the program was headquartered. According to Director of HULA Jeremy Daggett, citizens of Peru were protesting for a new congress and a reformed constitution after a failed coup by former President Pedro Castillo on Dec. 7, 2022. Castillo was elected in 2021, and the indigenous and underrepresented peoples of the Peruvian provinces hoped he would bring change to their government, but it soon became clear he was susceptible to corruption and incompetent to lead, according to Daggett. After the coup, in which Castillo tried to dissolve congress, he was arrested and Vice President Dina Boluarte took over as Peru’s sixth president in five years. “The people of the provinces were disappointed by the president that was supposed to be their champion, and they’re asking for new elections for president and new elections for congress in hopes that something might finally change,” Daggett said. Daggett said though protesting was a normal part of Peruvian culture, altercations with police and military forces had led to some of the protests becoming violent. According to a Jan. 27 article by The New York Times, at least 57 deaths had occurred related to the unrest. Daggett said the concern with HULA staying in Arequipa was not due to the violence, as the protests were organized, and citizens could find out ahead of time where they would be located. Rather, the concern INTERNATIONAL Harding University in Latin America shifts their itinerary due to protests in Peru. was more that travel into the Arequipa airport wouldn’t be possible or that the group would be restricted from traveling outside the country. “We [had planned] on traveling to Argentina on Feb. 9 and now we’re traveling on Feb. 4, so the only big change [was] moving up our trip five days,” Daggett said. “That [gave] us a little bit more time for things to iron out.” Director of International Programs (IP) Audra Pleasant said her office had been monitoring the situation and felt the program could still be headquartered in Arequipa this semester. “The situation in Peru is fluid, and we’ve [monitored] it closely,” Pleasant said. “If we no longer [felt] that we [could] provide an excellent program or reasonable safety for all program participants, we [would] adapt the itinerary as needed.” Freshman Mikayla Jones was one of the students who studied abroad at HULA this semester. She said the program directors and IP office had done a good job at making the group feel safe and informed about the situation in Peru. “Some of my friends who went to HULA in the past said their only regret was that they couldn’t spend more time in Buenos Aires, so with that in mind I [was] excited to explore that city for even more time,” Jones said. HULA spent the first two weeks of the spring semester in Argentina, visiting Buenos Aires and Patagonia, and arrived at their headquarters in Arequipa, Peru, on Feb. 21. “We love HULA, we love Peru, [and] we love hosting HULA in Peru,” Daggett said. Written by: Emma Jones ITINERARIES
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