TRINCHERA NORTE - A BARRA BRAVA FROM LIMA

The first barra of Universitario was founded in 1968. A group of students from middle class and high class sectors, residents of the exclusive district San Isidrio, decided to frequent the matches of their team more regularly. They started to come together on the East Tribune of the stadium and their numbers multiplied. Soon they officially organized themselves and founded the 'Asociación Barra Dale U', better known as Barra Oriente (referring to the east side of thestadium). They distinguished themselves by their banderas and songs. These active fans of Universitario had one principle problem: aggressive and violent attacks of the barra brava of archrival Alianza Lima. This mainly meant the stealing of their banners ('trophy hunting') and occasional beatings around the stadium. The leaders of Barra Oriente though had made a clear decision that their barra would not become violent,'because supporters of Universitario were decent fans'. However, some young and very fanatical supporters did not agree with them. They wanted to fight back. In 1988 a couple of them moved to the North Tribune of the stadium, that hadn't been claimed by a specific group of supporters. Soon they attracted more numbers of radical fans and took over the tribune, aggressively chasing out others. That is how 'Barra Norte' started.

The leaders of Barra Norte not only wanted to confront the supporters of their archrival,they also wanted to break with the idea that Universitario was the club of the 'white' and 'rich'. They wanted their club to be 'for the people', thus a wider and heterogeneous base of supporters. The supporter's base of Alianza Lima and Universitario used to be divided along class and ethnic lines. From their first encounter on the field,these two football clubs developed a fierce rivalry and opposing identities. Whilst Alianza became the 'natural choice' for Afro-Peruvians and the mestizo working class of Lima, the Universitario supporters were mainly students from middle and high class sectors. So originally, Universitario represented the modern and cosmopolitan elite, higher educated and 'white'. 

Besides the division along class and ethnic lines, there was also a difference in the football styles of the teams. Whereas Alianza played 'pretty' football and had players that were very talented by nature, Universitario focused on strength, preparation, fuerza and moral. 

For Barra Norte, the ideas of "fuerza" and "empuje" were the identity markers of Universitario, and not race or class. They started to call their team the "Garra Crema"('Cream Claw'; cream being the club colours), and "Lolo" (Lolo Fernández, 'the canon', a legendary player of Universitario) became their icon. Later on, symbols from radical and intolerant political movements were adopted, like the Nazi swastika. A sub-group called itself "Holocausto". In 1993 the name "Trinchera Norte" was adopted and the leaders started to call themselves "la Cúpula". Both terms were used by the violent guerrilla movement Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path). More than expressing ideological affiliations, these referrals were to instil fear in their opponents and express the radical and violent nature of their barra brava. 

The Trinchera Norte was founded on the 9. of November 1988. Three young hinchas(fans) who did not agree with the passive attitude of Barra Oriente, but were not listened to by its leaders, started to think of founding a new barra. In June 1988 for the first time they brought together a group of thirty people on the North Tribune. They had several setbacks starting up, but after some months managed to attract a group of 300 people. The barra prepared their foundation act on a piece of paper in a bar, frightening supporters of rival football teams, and gaining respect 'in the streets'. It also states that they would collect money so that everybody could enter the stadium and how they started to organize an official 'empadronamiento'(registration of their members) and tried to secure as many entree tickets as possible. 

The barras bravas of the clubs in Lima had always been related to violent incidents,but as of the second half of the 1990s, the violence became commonplace and the confrontations between rival groups spread deep into the districts of Lima. The barras bravas became closely related to pandillas, neighbourhood gangs, which had emerged in the marginal districts of Lima. Codes of conduct changed. For being a true supporter, one now had to participate in the guerreadas (group fights). The 'first love' of the pandilleros, however, was their batería (gang), and not the barra or football club. Anyhow, the pandillas became part of Trinchera Norte and the North Tribune their meeting place. This has led to other supporters leaving and the formation of new groups calling for change. A pandilla in Lima has two main characteristics: its members engage in collective street fights and in criminal activities, mainly robberies and drug dealing. Typical for its members is that they have very strong feelings of brotherhood towards each other, but do not seem to have any feelings of responsibility or sympathy towards the larger society. They don't call themselves a pandilla, but a batería. Usually, the street is where its members grew up. At a very young age they learned 'the tricks' from older boys. Trying to escape extreme poverty, becoming part of a pandilla means immediate financial opportunities. However,other than financial reasons seem to be just as important. A pandilla provides security, stability and the chance 'to be someone and to belong to something'.

Some men have been identified as leaders, or 'most important members', ofTrinchera Norte. One of them is Percy Rodríguez Marchand, better known as Misterio, who became a legendary figure after his early death (he killed himself in 1997 playing Russian-roulette). He was not one of the founders of the barra, but joined in 1989, then 18 years old. Five years later, together with four other fanatical members, he would be in "la Cúpula",under which direction Trinchera Norte radicalised. 

For some, he came to personify the paradigm of Trinchera Norte. For the police he was nothing more but a juvenile delinquent,a rotten egg, a bad example. For many youngsters though he became an Anti-Hero, the ultimate "parador". Above all, they considered him to have a big heart, to be courageous and generous.