the distribution of aid, as urban dwellers felt they were not receiving enough compared to indigenous peasants. President Juan Velasco saw the disaster as "a unique opportunity" to carry out his populist agenda, which aimed to erase socioeconomic divides in rural provinces such as Yungay. "For the urban elite accustomed to advantages over the indigenous population, equality was an insidious proposition." Yet for rural inhabitants, "it was a unique opportunity for social mobility in a frontier-like scenario." Reconstruction In November 1970, authorities announced plans to relocate the provincial capital itself to a place called Tingua, away. This plan was poorly received, being far from the peasant farmers who depended on Yungay markets to sell their products and came to town for religious functions. Such an arrangement would also leave the urban population without nearby sources of food, goods and revenue (from renting of farmland). "The Tingua site for the new capital would have disrupted traditional social, economic and political patterns of interrelationships within the capital as well as between the rural and urban sectors of society. The Yungaino leaders were determined to avoid this disruptive project at all costs." Ultimately, the national government began the construction of a permanent town at Yungay Norte, with significant international assistance. By 1975, Yungay Norte was simply known as "Yungay", with the site of the destroyed town known as "Yungay Viejo". The new city already had electricity, running water, clinics, schools, a church, and permanent housing. By the early 1990s Yungay had recovered to its pre-avalanche population. The social composition of the town was completely changed, especially since a large number of old Yungay's survivors ended up moving to coastal cities, to be replaced by migrants from rural areas. The Peruvian government declared the site of Yungay a national cemetery, Campo Santo. Any excavation to recover the dead or search for artifacts is prohibited. A memorial in the shape of the original cathedral facade, a stone altar, and a large memorial garden and obelisk has been built on the site. Some survivors have erected headstones in the locations of their former homes. Visitors can still see a portion of the cathedral wall, the burial mound and statue of Christ, the four palm trees in the central plaza, and the wreckage of a bus. In the wake of the disaster, the national government greatly increased funding for the mitigation and prevention of glacier-related hazards. May