Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Peruvian indigenous congresswomen Supa (left) and Sumire (Photo: Sebastián Castañeda)

(LIP-wb) -- Peruvian congresswomen Hilaria Supa and Maria Sumire, both members of the oppositional UPP-PNP alliance, complained they have been the target of discrimination by Spanish airline Iberia. The incident obviously happened on Saturday evening at Lima's Jorge Chavez International Airport.

According to Sumire's version given to CPN Radio, both legislators arrived at Iberia's check-in counter to board the 8:55 p.m. flight to Madrid.

However, they were told the airplane was full and there was no alternative for a later flight that night.

Sumire maintained that despite purchasing the tickets in advance, airline personnel made them wait unnecessarily while servicing other customers first. After the congresswomen started to complain about this disadvantage, an airline employee apparently answered something that roughly translates to "how can you be congresswomen if you don't even know how to speak the language? Obviously you don't speak Spanish very well, so complain all you want".

Both congresswomen are indigenous Peruvians who prefer to speak in their native Quechua language, however, both are fully capable of conversing in perfect Spanish and in mastering the Peruvian form of Castellano.

"It was a cruel treatment that is not supposed to happen. If this happens to us congresswomen, then it will also happen to the rest of our quechua speaking brothers and sisters", she added.

Peru's Parliament announced on Sunday that they will send an official protest of this "discriminatory treatment" to the Spanish ambassador to Peru.

The president of Peru's Congress, Mercedes Cabanillas, declared she condemned the incident and said it was unjustified. “I condemn this incident that happened in Peruvian territory. They offended two congresswomen that are representatives of our nation”, she said.

Cabanillas demanded respect for all Peruvian citizens and expressed that Parliament feels offended by this unsuitable attitude. “The person in charge is the company, not the employees. The company has the obligation to treat its customers with respect”, she added.

In addition, Yonhy Lescano, chairman of Peru's congressional commission for consumer rights, announced he will ask for an official report from the airline. He stated that the government must demonstrate greater authority in order to defend the dignity of Peruvian citizens and not to allow abuses committed by foreign companies against elected authorities.

“It is an absolutely discriminatory, condemnable act and we reject that these transnational companies obviously do what they desire in Peru”, he complained.

Supa and Sumire wanted to attend a congress of indigenous parliamentarians in the Spanish capital.

Version of Iberia
Gina Muñoz, president of Iberia's Peru branch, affirmed that Sumire and Supa were two of five people who could not travel on Saturday. She said that Supa arrived at the “counter” at 7:18 p.m. and Sumire at 7:25 p.m., when seats were already occupied.

Muñoz referred to the general practice of all airlines to sell 10% more over actual flight capacity to avoid losses caused by cancellations.

She said the airline offered both legislators to travel to Spain through connections via Ecuador and Chile, but both refused.

- related articles -

- 2 Congresswomen insist on speaking Quechua in Parliament (LIP, Aug. 10, 2006)

- Three Peruvian women: a poet, a politician, and a manager (LIP, Oct. 5, 2006)

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