An anti-government protester challenges the police around the University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru, Saturday, January 21, 2023. The police expelled the protesters from the university campus. The Andean demanded the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the release from prison of ousted President Pedro Castillo and immediate elections.
Martin Mejia/AP
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Martin Mejia/AP
An anti-government protester challenges the police around the University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru, Saturday, January 21, 2023. The police expelled the protesters from the university campus. The Andean demanded the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the release from prison of ousted President Pedro Castillo and immediate elections.
Martin Mejia/AP
LIMA, Peru — Peru indefinitely closed the famous ancient ruins of Machu Picchu on Saturday in the latest sign that anti-government protests that began last month are increasingly engulfing the South American nation. .
The Culture Ministry said it had closed the country’s most popular tourist attraction as well as the Inca Trail leading to the site “to protect the safety of tourists and the general population.”
There are 417 tourists stuck at Machu Picchu and unable to get out, more than 300 of them foreigners, Tourism Minister Luis Fernando Helguero said at a news conference.
The closure of the Inca citadel dating back to the 15th century and often considered one of the new seven wonders of the world came as protesters flocked to Lima, many of them arriving in the capital from far-flung Andean regions. , to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte.
Also on Saturday, police raided Peru’s most important public university in Lima to expel protesters who were on campus while participating in large demonstrations. Interior Minister Vicente Romero said more than 100 people had been detained.
Until recently, protests were concentrated in the south of the country. They began last month after then-President Pedro Castillo, Peru’s first leader from the Andean countryside, was impeached and jailed for trying to dissolve Congress.
Protesters are demanding the resignation of Boluarte, the former vice president who was sworn in on December 7 to replace Castillo. They also want Congress to dissolve and hold new elections. Castillo is currently being held on sedition charges.
More than 55 people died in the unrest that followed, most recently on Friday night when one protester was killed and at least nine others injured in clashes with police in Puno. A total of 21 protesters and a police officer were killed in the southern region.
On Saturday morning, police used a small tank to storm San Marcos National University in the morning.
Javier Cutipa, 39, traveling by bus from Puno, had been sleeping on the floor there since Thursday but left for breakfast shortly before police arrived. He described the police action as “actually an attack,” with helicopters, tear gas and small tanks.
“This infuriates us. The only thing the government is doing with these detentions is making tensions worse,” Cutipa said. He added that “when people find out about this, they will react in a more extreme way.”
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside law enforcement offices where detainees were being held on Saturday night, chanting “Freedom” and “We are students, not criminals.” terrorism.” More people gathered at other points of downtown Lima.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed “concern about police infiltration, deportation and mass detention” at the university and called on the state to “ensure the integrity and due process of all everyone.”
The university issued a press release saying that the police raid came after protesters “attacked” security personnel.
Cusco, home to Machu Picchu, has been the site of some of the most violent clashes, resulting in significant losses in tourism revenue. Cusco Airport was briefly closed this week after weary protesters stormed the airport.
Train service to Machu Picchu has been closed since Thursday due to damaged tracks.
Some of the stranded tourists, Helguero said, have chosen to leave by foot to Piscacucho, the nearest village, “but that requires a hike of six, seven hours or more and only a handful of people. can do it.”
The Culture Ministry said tourists who bought tickets to visit Machu Picchu from Saturday until a month after the protests ended will be able to get a full refund.
