Peru: airport closure for tourism in Machu Picchu

Cusco International Airport, which then drains to the famous Machu Picchu, jewel of Peruvian tourism, suspended

and

Thursday, January 12, its operations due to the demonstrations that have shaken the country for more than a month, Dina Boluarte, announced the Ministry of Transport.

This decision was taken because of fears of the intrusion of demonstrators who marched by the thousands on Thursday in Cusco, after an unsuccessful attempt the day before.

Many police and military are positioned around Cusco airport, which handles the second largest air traffic in Peru with nearly a hundred weekly flights connecting Cusco to the capital Lima.

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Protesters who tried to invade the tracks were repelled by security forces on Wednesday in a day of violence that left one protester dead and more than 50 injured, including 19 police officers, according to the office of the mediator.

It is the second time that the airport has been closed since the beginning of the protest movement in early December against the new president Dina Boluarte, after the dismissal of the former leftist president Pedro Castillo by the Parliament, and which made the minus 42 dead.

In December, Cusco airport suspended operations for five days.