Peru closes Machu Picchu as protests spread

Lima — Peruvian police arrested more than 200 people accused of illegally entering the campus of a Lima university, while authorities in Cusco shut the Incan citadel of Machu Picchu and the Inca trail as deadly antigovernment protests spread nationwide.

Dozens of Peruvians were injured after tensions flared again as police clashed with protesters, with security forces in the capital city Lima using teargas to repel demonstrators throwing glass bottles and stones, as fires burned in the streets.

About 46 people have been killed in the weeks-long clashes and another nine in traffic accidents related to the barricades set up amid the protests.

Alfonso Barrenechea, with the crime prevention division of the prosecutor's office, said 205 people were arrested at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos for illegally trespassing on the university’s premises and for allegedly stealing electronic goods.

A group of masked protesters stormed the campus and removed security personnel from the campus after taking vests and other equipment from them, the university said.

In videos circulating online, an armoured vehicle can be seen breaking down a door on the university campus to allow entry for security forces.

In the Cusco region, the gateway to Machu Picchu, Glencore’s major Antapaccay copper mine suspended operations after protesters attacked the premises — one of the largest in the country — for the third time this month.

Airports in Arequipa, Cusco and the southern city of Juliaca were also attacked by demonstrators, delivering a fresh blow to Peru's tourism industry.

Cultural authorities in Cusco ordered “closure of the Inca trail network and Machu Picchu from January 21 and until further notice” in light of the protests.

The imposing Incan citadel is a major tourist attraction, with more than a million visitors a year, though that number was reduced due to the pandemic.

Protests have rocked Peru since former president Pedro Castillo was ousted in December after he attempted to dissolve the legislature to prevent an impeachment vote.

The unrest, which until last week had been concentrated in Peru’s south, has prompted the government to extend a state of emergency to six regions, curtailing some civil rights. 

Reuters