Hundreds of tourists are caught up in Peru’s internal turmoil as they remain stranded in a town near the ruins of the mountain city of Machu Picchu in the midst of protests that are gripping the country.
In the ongoing political upheaval in Peru, President Pedro Castillo dissolved the country’s Congress on Wednesday and called for new elections ahead of still another attempt to remove him from office. He established a new emergency government and said he would make changes to leadership in the judiciary, police and constitutional court.
Americans, Europeans and South Americas cannot leave the town of Aguas Calientas, near the base of Machu Picchu, since the government has suspended train service indefinitely. Machu Picchu Mayor Darwin Baca said that he is trying to set up helicopter transport to get them out, according to Axios. In the meantime, the town is running out of food and water.
“We have asked the government to help us and establish helicopter flights in order to evacuate the tourists,” Baca said.
Among the tourists trapped on the mountain are two Chicago police officers, a pregnant couple from Acworth, Georgia, and a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue captain, who told Florida’s Local 10 news that around 200 American citizens remain in the town. Thousands more cannot travel across the country due to protests.
“From what I understand, the rest of the country is not doing too well,” Fire Rescue Capt. Brian Vega said. “They’re rioting, burning things down.”
Demonstrators carry a sign reading, “Closure of the coup Congress,” amid violent protests following the ousting and arrest of former President Pedro Castillo, in Ayacucho, Peru December 15, 2022.
The first move to oust Castillo was made on December 7 and the situation has not yet been resolved. Accused of corruption, six investigations were opened against the president.
Castillo’s actions, seen as an effort to preserve power, prompted the Congress to fully oust him and replace him with Dina Boluarte, his former vice-president. The appointment proved incredibly unpopular, with many voters seeing Castillo as “one of us,” while Boluarte remains distant and unknown to them.
Boluarte dispatched authorities to crack down on protests, but that only caused the violence to spike, resulting in the death of at least seven people Thursday night, with over 50 other people injured. A judge ordered Castillo detained for up to 18 months while prosecutors prepare a case against him.
Protesters now demand Castillo’s freedom, Boluarte’s resignation and new elections to pick a president and congress. They have burned police stations, blocked highways and taken over airport runways.
Boluarte declared a state of emergency Friday to rein in the unrest and dispatched the military to disperse the protests, bringing the death toll to over 22 people, The New York Times reported. Two ministers resigned over the deaths of Peruvian citizens, with the outgoing Education Minister Patricia Correa saying that death of the citizens at the hands of the government “has no justification.”
Vega said that the unrest has left the country – and the tourists – in a state of total chaos, with local authorities unable to tell him whether they can evacuate people by Christmas. He appealed to U.S. lawmakers to work out an airlift.
