José Ismael Peña, new rector of the National University, spoke with 'Vicky en SEMANA'. He did it in the midst of the disturbance of public order in the university faculty in Bogotá, supposedly on behalf of his appointment. For this reason, he himself was asked who are the people who are with machete in hand in the institution, preventing free mobility and pressuring changes in the decisions made with his appointment.
According to Peña, he does not know with certainty who the people protesting are, but he did confirm that they are violent and armed. “No student from the National University, nor from any university in this country, and I think in the world, goes to the university with a machete. That is to say that a person who walks with a machete in a city is a person who does not belong to the university community. While it is true that there is a group of students there is also a group of hooded people, with sharp weapons, with machetes, who definitely do not belong to the university”he explained.
The rector was asked about who is behind the chaos within the cloister and stated: “I really don't know. The National University has a group of students who are critical, who sometimes protest, but a student from the National University does not wear a hood to criticize or question a measure of the same university or any area.”
Watch the interview with José Ismael Peña, new rector of the National University:
spoke with the university security guard Henry Belalcázar, who remains inside the building for three days, recounting the details of how the takeover began by the hooded men, who, according to reports, entered with machetes. Belalcázar indicated that the people who broke into the institution threatened to kill him, and he also recalled that They told him “we are going to burn the chuzo”, he hopes that this situation will end with a negotiation with the directives.
On the particular, José Ismael Peña assured that he does not believe that his appointment was the reason for the protest but rather that he ended up as rector and many students did not agree with the election method. Likewise, the rector ruled out commenting on the versions that suggest that they want to remove him, despite being appointed, because he is not related to the government of President Gustavo Petro.
The new rector has postgraduate in Agile Project Management with Scrum, Kanban, Lean and XP Innovation and Entrepreneurship Business School, doctorate in Management Sciences University of Grenoble Alpes (France), Master in Information Systems Management and Technology University of Geneve (Suisse), master's degree in Economics and Management with a Research focus University of Grenoble 2 – Pierre Mendès (France), specialist in Pedagogy for the Development of Autonomous Learning National Open and Distance University – UNAD, specialist in Philosophy of Science from El Bosque University, Engineer of Systems National University of Colombia. The rector insisted that he will be taking office on May 1st.
