Puno, a city on the edge of the Titicaca side in southern Peru, welcomed me a few weeks ago with the explosion of color and music that the festival of the Virgin of Candelaria brings. It was an atmosphere totally opposite to the conversations full of indignation and suffering that I had there last year, after the police violently repressed the massive protests that began in late 2022.
Normality has been slowly returning to Puno in recent years, largely due to the need to return to activities that generate income, including tourism.