A strike is slowing down tourist activity at Machu Picchu, the famous Peruvian Inca citadel, in opposition to a new system of online sale of entry tickets granted to a private company.
Many businesses lowered their curtains and the train bringing tourists to the citadel was blocked Thursday by demonstrators.
Banging drums and waving flags, they demanded the resignation of the Minister of Culture and the tourists on board had to continue on foot, AFP noted.
As night fell, police used tear gas to disperse a group of demonstrators who were blocking the road. Authorities have made no arrests.
Train operator Ferrocarril Transandino announced that its services would be suspended on Friday between Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu due to the protests.
PHOTO CAROLINA PAUCAR, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
“We took this decision to protect passengers and railway employees after learning of new calls for demonstrations,” the company said in a statement.
The organizations are demanding the cancellation of the contract with the online ticket sales operator, which they consider illegal and which began operating on Saturday.
A local collective says the company, Joinnus, could generate up to $3.2 million a year in commissions thanks to the new system.
“We are against the systematic privatization of Machu Picchu. The people do not agree,” Darwin Baca, the former mayor of Machu Picchu, told AFP.
The Ministry of Culture indicated on social networks that the visit to the citadel was taking place “completely normally” and that it was planning “adjustments to entry times”.
“No one can say that we are privatizing cultural heritage. I myself am against it. Machu Picchu belongs to all Peruvians,” Culture Minister Leslie Urtega said on Saturday.
PHOTO ERNESTO BENAVIDES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The Ministry of Culture affirms that the new sales system should make it possible to control the flow of tourists and preserve the citadel, listed as a World Heritage Site since 1983.
“There is a risk that Machu Picchu will be removed from the list” due to an “excess of visitors” which could lead to its deterioration, said Ana Pena, an advisor to the Ministry of Culture.
Last September, Peru temporarily closed three sectors of Machu Picchu, due to the impact of the number of tourists at the site. It welcomes an average of 4,500 visitors per day.
The archaeological complex, located 130 kilometers from the city of Cusco and at an altitude of 2438 meters, was built in the 15the century on the orders of the Inca emperor Pachacutec (1438-1470) and discovered in 1911 by the American explorer Hiram Bingham.