Hundreds of tourists remained stranded near Machu Picchu, Peru’s most visited site, over the weekend after protesters blocked train and bus routes to the site and closed local shops and restaurants in Aguas Calientes, the gateway to access to Machu Picchu, in the Cusco region of the country.
Some visitors posted videos on social media asking for help.
Police evacuated about 700 tourists on Saturday.
Tourists wait outside the Machu Picchu train station after train service was suspended due to damage allegedly caused by protesters at Machu Picchu, Peru, January 21, 2023. – Peru closed the entrance to the citadel on Saturday at Inca Machu Picchu indefinitely for alleged security reasons in the face of protests calling for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and which have already caused 46 deaths. (Photo by Carolina Paucar/AFP)Many left without seeing the site.
Protesters took to the streets on Thursday request from the government terminate a contract that allows a company to sell tickets to Machu Picchu for the first time.
Until now, tickets were sold via the Cusco Culture Office, controlled by the regional government.
Protesters agreed to a 24-hour “truce” on Tuesday to attend talks with government officials.
Although Machu Picchu is officially open, train service to Aguas Calientes and buses taking tourists to the citadel remain suspended.
The U.S. Embassy advised travelers who wish to try to reach the site by other means to make sure they bring their own enough food and any medications they may need.
Machu Picchu, believed to have been a refuge for Inca royalty in the 15th century, received about 2.2 million visitors last year, down from pre-pandemic levels of 4.6 million.
Peru has tried to encourage tourists to visit other ancient sites, partly to avoid overcrowding, which UNESCO says could damage parts of its structure.
Who is protesting and why?
Among the protesters there are tour operators, guides, activists and residents of the Cusco region.
They oppose a private company profiting from the sale of tickets to Machu Picchu and say the company, Joinnusan event marketing platform, was chosen last year to manage sales through a corrupt deal with the Minister of Culture, Leslie Urteaga, which she denies.
Elvis La Torre, mayor of Aguas Calientes, says the government has not consulted local authorities or residents about the new online system.
Distrust of the president’s government Dina Boluarte It is very deep in Cuzco, an eminently indigenous region with countless pre-Columbian ruins.
Boluarte took office in late 2022 after his predecessor was removed and arrested after attempting to dissolve the Peruvian Congress, sparking widespread protests across the country to which he responded with crackdowns that left 49 civilians dead , mainly in indigenous regions.
What does the government want?
According to the government, the new ticket sales system aims to make sales more transparent.
He claims that the “mafias” are linked to the regional government of Cusco deviate part of the tickets to be sold on the black market, depriving the public coffers of revenue and making it difficult to measure the real number of visitors to the stadium.
The government is also looking to introduce a “dynamic” system where the daily visitor limit changes throughout the year.
The company that transports tourists by bus to Machu Picchu usually declares the number of tourists per day higher than the official sale of tickets, according to the Congressional Tourism Committee. The Comptroller General of the Republic found that in the years 2021 and 2022, between 70,000 and 80,000 visitors to Machu Picchu were not counted by the Regional Directorate of Culture, which represents a loss of approximately 2 million dollars a year.
Where are the negotiations now?
The protesters want the resignation of the Minister of Culture and the termination of the contract with Joinnus.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Culture announced that it would move the new ticketing system to a platform administered by the central governmentwith the collaboration of the regional government of Cusco.
Urteaga said the transition to a new state-administered system will take “a reasonable period of time.”
“We cannot go back to the previous system,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that the country must have a secure, transparent and objective platform.
Joinnus said this I would accept terminate the contract early.
Mayor La Torre has proposed updating the Region’s online ticket sales platform to ensure transparency.
“We will agree to modernize the sales system of the Ministry of Culture,” he said in a video posted on the Internet, but only if the process is “transparent” and “communicated to those interested.”
It is unclear whether demonstrators will resume their protests once the truce ends at midnight on Tuesday.
Hasn’t this happened before?
Peru is plagued by social conflict, and it is not uncommon for residents in rural regions to block roads to draw media attention to their demands and pressure authorities to negotiate.
Over the past decade, protesters have blocked rail access to Machu Picchu on several occasions as part of efforts to win higher wages for teachers and health workers, lower fares for rail service, or help for farmers during a severe shortage of fertilizers.
Between late 2022 and early last year, tourism in much of southern Peru, including Machu Picchu, ground to a halt for several weeks due to political unrest that followed Boluarte’s takeover.
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Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.