Peru to indefinitely close Inca site Machu Picchu

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Machu Picchu

Photo: Isabelle Schmidt / dpa

Violence continues to escalate in Peru.

One consequence: the world heritage site of Machu Picchu, popular with tourists from all over the world, was closed.

The Peruvian Ministry of Culture announced on Saturday in Lima that the closure of the historic Inca site had been ordered “because of the social situation and to protect the integrity of the visitors”.

The measure applies “until further notice”.

During the protests, access to Machu Picchu was repeatedly restricted.

The operation of the nearby airport of Cusco was suspended.

Hundreds of foreign tourists were stranded around Machu Picchu in mid-December.

Peru has been wracked by unrest since the ouster and arrest of leftist President Pedro Castillo on December 7.

The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of his successor, Dina Boluarte, and the dissolution of parliament in order to hold new elections without delay.

Dozens of people died in the wave of protests.

A state of emergency has now been declared for almost a third of the Andean country.

Another fatality was reported from the small town of Ilave in the southern Puno region on Saturday.

A man was seriously injured during a protest on Friday and was hospitalized as a result, an official told the AFP news agency.

He succumbed to his injuries on Saturday.

According to hospital reports, ten other people were injured in the clashes between members of the indigenous Aymara people and the police.

The police crackdown on the protests so upset the demonstrators in Ilave that they set fire to a police station on Saturday morning, TV footage showed.

A police station was also set on fire in Zepita, in the Puno region.

Nobody got hurt.

dop/AFP