LIMA, Peru – As protests swept Peru this month, hundreds of foreign tourists were trapped near Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca site that has become the Andean country’s top tourist attraction.
In recent days, however, visitors have finally been able to travel home a suspension of demonstrations reopening the airport and nearby roads to allow the passage of food and travelers.
But as they leave the country, would-be travelers cancel their trips and another regional and perhaps national strike breaks out, the abrupt shutdown of the tourism industry has dealt a serious blow to tens of thousands of Peruvians whose livelihoods depend on the travel economy.
It’s not just that “everyone started canceling,” said Nancy Bautista, 41, a guide with two kids in the Cusco department, home to Machu Picchu. As soon as the tourists left, protesters again closed roads in the surrounding region, causing fuel and food shortages.
It is just one example of the financial toll that more than 10 days of nationwide unrest has taken on Peruvians. While Cusco felt calm on Monday, Ms. Bautista said, chicken stocks dwindled in the city. Beef was completely sold out. Gas prices skyrocketed.
The challenge of delivering essential goods is of great concern in a region where the worst drought in more than 50 years and high fertilizer prices are already causing food shortages.
In the department of Cusco, with its capital city of the same name, large numbers of people struggle to get enough to eat, with nearly 20 percent of children under the age of 5 suffering from chronic malnutrition, according to government figures.
Cusco has about 2,000 tourist bureaus, more than 1,000 hotels and 25 rural communities that depend on tourism, but the past few days have felt like the heavy visitorless months of the pandemic, Ms Bautista said.
“With all this, it goes back to that time when everything was uncertain,” she added.
Historians believe that Machu Picchu, built by the Inca before the arrival of the Spanish, was built in the 15th century, possibly as a royal estate or sacred religious site, although there is uncertainty about its exact purpose.
Understand the political unrest in Peru
A tumultuous moment. Peru has been shaken in recent years by political turmoil, rapid presidential changes and ongoing scandals. Now the ousting of President Pedro Castillo has sparked an outbreak of violence in the fragile South American democracy. Here’s what you need to know:
Tourism to the site began to grow in 1983 when UNESCO declared the area a World Heritage Site.
The surrounding region, known as the Sacred Valley, has also seen a huge increase in the number of tourists in recent decades.
In 2019, 1.5 million people visited Machu Picchu, most of them foreigners. Tourist numbers climbed so high that many feared for its physical integrity, and the government began restricting access.
But Rolando Mendoza, Cusco’s tourism director, said the regional tourism sector had been hit hard by the pandemic and the government’s strict lockdowns, and was still recovering when the protests began.
Officials had hoped to attract at least a million visitors this year. Mr Mendoza estimated that due to the protests it will be between 700,000 and 800,000 by the end of the year.
Protests erupted in Peru in early December after the country’s leftist leader, Pedro Castillo, attempted to dissolve Congress and install a new government that would rule by decree — actions that went beyond the limits the constitution imposed on the president.
The move was widely condemned as an attempted coup and Mr Castillo was soon arrested on charges of rebellion. His vice president, Dina Boluarte, a former ally, soon took office.
But Mr Castillo’s supporters, many of them from poor rural areas, have taken to the streets to demand new general elections, and many have also called for his return, sometimes blocking highways with burning tires, smashing government buildings and bricks. be thrown into the streets. streets.
At least 26 people have died as a result of the protests, according to the Office of the National Ombudsman, and several human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused the police and military of using excessive force against protesters.
Clashes between the army and demonstrators in the city of Ayacucho on Thursday left nine demonstrators dead, including a 15-year-old boy.
According to the ombudsman, at least 356 civilians and 290 police officers were injured during the protests.
On Monday, protests across the country had eased, though groups called for another strike starting this week, leaving it unclear whether the country saw an end to the unrest — or just a brief hiatus.
Since taking office, Ms. Boluarte, a leftist from a largely impoverished region, has sought to strike a conciliatory tone by calling for unity in a deeply divided nation and addressing the nation in Quechua, the indigenous language used by many supporters. Mr Castillo is mentioned. .
But she has also declared a state of emergency, suspended many civil liberties and in some places sent the military onto the streets – actions that seem to alienate the protesters she is trying to calm down.
On Sunday she told in interviews with the national press said that protester deaths should be investigated by the military justice system rather than prosecutors, a move that could lead to lighter sentences for soldiers accused of abuse. The report was instant criticized by legal expertswho said a previous Supreme Court case, as well as international law, had made it clear that allegations of human rights abuses in the civilian system should be investigated.
A day earlier, the country’s anti-terrorism police raided the offices of a left-wing party and a campesino organization in central Lima, detaining several protesters for hours.
Police accused them of planning to commit violence during demonstrations, showing reporters weapons such as slingshots and machetes seized from protesters, though the protesters said these were planted. Human rights groups denounced the raids as an illegal intimidation tactic by the authorities.
As the raid unfolded, Ms. Boluarte discussed the crisis in a televised presentation with the Chief of the Armed Forces, a figure believed to be closely focused on external threats in Peru.
“I am very sorry for the death of these people,” she said, speaking of the dead protesters. “We are building bridges to meet the leaders of these social movements. But you can’t enter into a dialogue with violence. Take it easy.”
Barring the possibility of Mr Castillo’s reinstatement, protesters have called for new elections to be held as soon as possible, while Congress recently voted down an attempt to move them to December 2023, well ahead of the scheduled 2026 date.
An Ipsos poll for America Television released on Sunday found that about 85 percent of respondents supported a new general election, with 33 percent also supporting what the poll called Castillo’s “coup,” a figure that rose to 52 percent in rural Peru.
Another poll found that only 17 percent were satisfied with how democracy works in Peru, the lowest level since at least 2006.
There was some support even among some whose livelihoods were shaken by the protests.
In interviews, people who work in the region’s tourism industry said they sympathized with the protesters’ motivations, though they disagreed with the violence and hoped a resolution would come soon.
“We talk to friends who work in tourism and there is always concern about political issues that could lead to this kind of blockade,” says David Mora, 41, who runs a small tourism business.
“But these strikes were very aggressive,” he added. “These have not been normal protests and there has also been a lot of repression from the authorities, the police and the army.”
Mitra Taj reported from Lima, Peru; Genevieve Glatsky of Philadelphia; and Julie Turkewitz from Ayacucho, Peru.