Peru closed the famed Machu Picchu indefinitely Saturday, leaving tourists stranded near the Incan citadel, amid ongoing anti-government protests.
The Peruvian government said that the ancient site and the trail leading up to it would be closed to protect tourists and citizens following clashes between protesters and police that left dozens injured Friday.
Hundreds of people are believed to be stranded at the foot of the site, BBC reported.
“The closure of the Inca trails network and the Machu Picchu citadel has been ordered due to the social situation and to preserve the safety of visitors,” the Ministry of Culture said in a statement on Saturday.
It is not the first time Machu Picchu was shuttered due to the unrest that has rocked Peru since President Pedro Castillo was ousted in December, after he attempted to dissolve the legislature to prevent an impeachment vote.
Protesters take part in the “Take over Lima” demonstration against Peru’s President Dina Boluarte on Jan. 20, 2023. REUTERSAuthorities rescued hundreds of tourists last month who had been stuck for days after protesters blocked roads and forced airports to close.
The latest shutdown comes after violence and chaos erupted across the country Friday after one of Lima’s most historic buildings, a near-century-old mansion, burned to the ground on Thursday, in what officials called the loss of a “monumental asset.”
Interior Minister Vicente Romero said the blaze was “duly planned and arranged.”
Firefighters work on a building fire in Lima, Peru on Jan. 19, 2023. @richaardavila via REUTERSIn the country’s southern Puno region, approximately 1,500 protesters attacked a police station in the town of Ilave, leaving at least eight been hospitalized with broken limbs, a punctured abdomen, and eye injuries, Romero said in a statement to news media.
Romero said a police station in Zepita, Puno, was also on fire.
Video footage posted to social media shows Peruvian authorities forcing their way into the National University of San Marcos, where students were reportedly allowing protesters from rural Peru to sleep.
A protester holds a sign that translates to “Genocidal Dina, resign, bloody murderer,” on Jan. 20, 2023. REUTERSThe violence Friday erupted following a speech from President Dina Boluarte, Castillo’s former first deputy, in which she condemned protesters.
“You want to break the rule of law, you want to generate chaos so that within that chaos and confusion you take power,” she said, vowing to prosecute all rioters.
Boluarte has dismissed calls for her to resign and hold snap elections. Instead, she has called for a dialogue and promised to punish those involved in the unrest.
Passengers talk to police outside an airport in Peru on Jan. 20, 2023. REUTERS“All the rigor of the law will fall on those people who have acted with vandalism,” Boluarte said on Thursday.
The government has extended a state of emergency to six regions, curtailing some civil rights after the unrest had been concentrated in Peru’s south until this week, when violence spilled into the capital.
Television footage from Lima showed police officers using tear gas to repel demonstrators throwing glass bottles and stones, as fires burned in the streets, local TV footage showed.
By late afternoon, 58 people had been injured nationwide in demonstrations, according to a report from Peru’s ombudsman.
In the Cusco region, Glencore’s major Antapaccay copper mine suspended operations on Friday after protesters attacked the premises — one of the largest in the country.
Airports in Arequipa, Cusco and the southern city of Juliaca were also attacked by demonstrators, delivering a fresh blow to Peru’s tourism industry.
“It’s nationwide chaos, you can’t live like this. We are in a terrible uncertainty — the economy, vandalism,” said Lima resident Leonardo Rojas.
With Post Wires
