Riots in Peru 418 tourists stranded in Machu Picchu evacuated

Riots in Peru: 418 tourists stranded in Machu Picchu evacuated

By Le Figaro with AFP

Posted 3 hours ago, updated 2 hours ago

Tourists at the foot of Machu Picchu on January 13, 2023. CAROLINA PAUCAR / AFP

Tourists were stranded for several days as protesters damaged the tracks. The situation in the capital Lima remains tense.

Peru continues to be rocked by unrest. “This afternoon, 418 local (Peruvian) and foreign tourists were taken from the village of Machu Picchu to Cuzco,” the country’s imperial Inca and tourist capital, the tourism ministry said on Twitter. The ministry released a photo of the train connecting the two cities and inside it one of the tourists who were previously stranded at the foot of the famous Inca site.

Apart from walking, the train is the only way to reach this tourist gem. Tourists were stranded for several days as protesters damaged the tracks. Tourists of all nationalities had signed up for evacuation on Friday lists in Aguas Calientes.

On Saturday morning, the authorities announced “the closure of the network of Inca Trails (land access, Inca Trail) and the Llaqta (Citadel) of Machu Picchu (…) due to the social situation and to ensure the safety of visitors”. , according to a press release from the Ministry of Culture.

By December, around 300 tourists were already stranded in Machu Picchu before being evacuated by a special train carrying railroad workers to repair the tracks under law enforcement supervision. Tourism, vital to the economy, accounts for between 3 and 4% of GDP and provides employment for all sections of the population.

The morning was marked by a new fatality, a protester who died of his injuries during clashes between police and protesters in Ilave, in the Puno region (south, near Bolivia) on Friday.

This brings the death toll to 46 since December 7 and the start of protests demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the dissolution of parliament and the establishment of a constituent assembly. The riots began after the sacking and arrest of the Left-wing President Pedro Castillo, who has been accused of attempting a coup d’état by wanting to dissolve parliament preparing to oust him from power.

Tensions in Lima

In Lima, the day after two days of mobilization, with the arrival of protesters from the poor Andean regions in the capital, the situation remained tense. Police entered the University of San Marcos in the city center in the morning to evict many demonstrators who had been there for several days.

They shot at the gate with an armored vehicle, then searched residents of the compound and sometimes forced them to lie on the ground in front of the university, AFP journalists reported, before arresting some.

“I have relatives who are there. I am anxious. We don’t know what can happen. I don’t know what they are accused of,” said Luz Maria Ramirez, 62, who was from Andahuaylsas (south), the epicenter of December’s demonstrations. Several hundred people gathered near the police in the afternoon to demand their release, some waving signs saying “Dina murders”. Police dispersed them with tear gas fire early in the evening.