With the outbreak of political unrest in the South American nation, Peru has shut down its famed Machu Pichu ruins with the Culture Ministry stating that it will be closing the site along with the Inca Trail ‘to protect the safety of tourists and the population in general’.
Llama in front of the ancient Inca town of Machu Picchu. Picture: Getty Images/ pawopa3336
418 tourists were sent back to Cusco by train following the announcement on Saturday 21 January, with several of the country’s airports halting operations, where service at the country’s Puno’s Inca Manco Cápac International Airport and Arequipa’s Alfredo Rodríguez Ballón Airport, its government said in a statement.
Peru has been adamant that protecting tourists during the demonstrations has been a priority, with safe tourist corridors between airports and historic centres established earlier this month. Peru Rail and Inca Rail collaborated to remove 2 062 tourists from Machu Pichiu when Puno’s airport was closed.
In a response to the demands of protestors, Peru’s president, Dina Boluarte, announced on 25 January that new elections would happen later this year.
Residents hold a protest against the government of President Dina Boluarte and demanded her resignation, in Puno, Peru, on January 25, 2023. Picture Juan Carlos CISNEROS / AFP) (Photo by JUAN CARLOS CISNEROS/AFP via Getty Images)
When former president, Pedro Castillo was dispelled in December of last year after accusations of corruption, vice-president Bolourte was sworn in. The appointment of Bolouarte sparked demonstrations, where Castillo – an indigenous former school teacher – was seen as a symbol of change in a country where indigenous people have felt excluded after decades of economic crisis and neoliberal reforms.
‘Peru is a relatively peaceful country that is going through a period of political transition,’ a local tourism operator told Conde Naste. ‘The current unrest is directed at the political institutions, not to cause harm to visitors to Peru.’
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