Callejón de Huaylas

Callejón de Huaylas, a well-watered, mostly temperate, and healthy valley between the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra in the Department of Ancash, Peru. The Callejón de Huaylas has attracted attention several times during its history. In the 1540s it was the site of an uprising by Alonso de Cabrera against Diego de Almagro and his son after Francisco Pizarro's murder. Toward the end of the sixteenth century, the Spanish discovered silver at Cerro Colqueporco (Quechua for "well of silver"). The ore proved low yielding and the site never prospered. Both the liberators José San Martín and Simón Bolívar used the valley as a base during the Wars of Independence because of its strategic value and its easy communications with the coast on the west, Trujillo on the north, and Huanuco to the southeast. In 1885, the valley was the staging ground for a serious uprising, led by Pedro Pablo Atusparia, against the abuses of peasant authorities, increased taxes, and the growing use of forced labor. The valley was and still is famous for its fertile soil and agricultural abundance.

In 1970 a strong earthquake known as the Callejón de Huaylas shook the Santa Valley. More than 50,000 people died, and 186,000 houses were damaged. Yungay was the city most damaged; it practically disappeared.

In July 1975 the Parque Nacional Huascarán, which is located in the Callejón de Huaylas, was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. It had been created to protect and preserve the Cordillera Blanca's flora, fauna, archaeological sites, and scenic beauty.

See alsoBolívar, Simón; Earthquakes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bode, Barbara. No Bells to Toll: Destruction and Creation in the Andes. New York: Scribner, 1989.

Díaz Bustos, Felipe. Callejón de Huaylas y Cordillera Blanca. Lima: Información Turística Kuntur, 1989.

Stein, William W. El levantamiento de Atusparia (1988).

Ugarte, Ruben Vargas. Historiageneral del Perú, 10 vols. (1971).

Varón Gabai, Rafael. "Estrategias políticas y relaciones con-yugales: El comportamiento de incas y españoles en Huaylas en la primera mitad del siglo XVI." Bulletin de l'IFEA 22, no. 3 (1993): 721-737.

Werlich, David P. Peru: A Short History (1978).

                                        Susan E. RamÍrez