INCA-HOOTS

Last Friday (24th) saw hundreds of student protesters topple a perimeter wall at Cuzco, Peru’s second busiest aiport, leading to flight suspensions and cancellations that left over 500 tourists high and dry. Elsewhere protesters managed to overturn a civic vehicle. Cuzco is the main ‘hub’ serving up tourists for Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas. The site attracts over 1,500 eager sightseers daily.

The situation has arisen because the government plans to build a reservoir in the nearby district of Espinar. Locals downstream fear it will eliminate their source of water. Students are backing the residents who have been blocking roads in the region for the past two weeks in protest.

The feisty protests at the airport were eventually broken up by tear gas. Official claim things were back to normal after a two-day closure, but the protesters have vowed to fight on.