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Armed Forces members on the campus of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Members of the Armed Forces on the campus of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. On January 21, 1992, six universities were raided by members of the Armed Forces and the Police. The country's public universities were, from the outset of the internal conflict, important spaces of action for subversive groups. Both Sendero Luminoso and the MRTA attempted to draw the student movement and teaching staff into their ranks, and to assert their presence within university grounds. During the 1980s, these campuses were covered in sectarian graffiti and murals celebrating armed struggle. University life was seriously disrupted by these actions, which had been preceded by a strong ideologization of student and faculty debate.