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Peru: Protestors Attempt to Take Over Train Station - Machu Picchu, Peru

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© PerúRail

(LIP-ir) -- Public Relations Manager for PeruRail, Gonzalo Rojas has announced that all of the company's trains have been stopped due to the fact that train tracks have been blocked by protestors in Peru.

Before the tracks were blocked, 1,200 tourists, who went up to Machu Picchu, Peru to visit the Incan citadel, are now stranded and can not return until tracks have been cleared.

Rojas informed RPP Radio that earlier this morning the wagons, Backpacker and Hiram Bingham had to return to Ollantaytambo with 150 tourists because they could not make the trip with all of the debris on the tracks.

"No one has been hurt, despite the fact that protestors have tried to take control of the train station," stated Rojas in an interview.

He explained that one of the trains, that derailed yesterday because of the rocks on the track, could not be placed back on its tracks this morning.

The Public Relations Manager noted that the situation in Puno, Peru is much worse and more violent. It is reported that protestors forced their way into the train station, damaged it and tried to set fire to the wagons. Rojas warned that 14 of the 15 wagons in Puno have 15 thousand gallons of fuel each.

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# Juan Blake says :
12 July, 2007 [ 23:44 ]

Now why would these people block trains and set fire to the fuel storage tanks? Is this like biting the hands that feed them?

# Stuart says :
13 July, 2007 [ 09:15 ]

Not to them it's not. When the region collapses into poverty after tourism dries up they will protest even more violently saying the corrupt elitist government of Lima is failing them, and to blame for everything. They will demand to know why Peru isn't progressing while they run riot in the streets maiming and killing and burning down buildings.

# Dale Hemme says :
13 July, 2007 [ 18:13 ]

Well folks nobody wants to just come out and say it but the reality is that certain parts of this country are at war with the rest and Puno is most certainly one of those areas........... Many of those folks speak as if they are interested in some concept of equality but in reality they have a very deep seated superiority complex. I made some rather interesting discoveries when I was doing some research on the artasania markets and the people that promote many of those things in the mountains..  If you use logic and reason you will never figure it out but if you read their marketing web material you will at times see the head of a Marxist cat stick his head out of the bag...............Can anyone spell M-A-R-S-H-A-L   L-A-W  

# Jason W. Smith, Ph.D. says :
16 July, 2007 [ 17:04 ]

Angry demonstrators free police hostages in Peru

Reuters

Updated: 8:07 p.m. PT July 13, 2007

AREQUIPA, Peru - Nine police officers were released on Friday night after being held by angry protesters for six hours in southern Peru, a police chief said.

Protesters voluntarily freed the officers after local authorities in the Arequipa region agreed to talk with their leaders, who demand the government of President Alan Garcia invest in social projects to bring prosperity to the area.

Arequipa's police chief Hernan Tamayo told Reuters the hostages were freed after being held for six hours, adding that two officers were injured after being beaten up and pelted with stones.

"The protesters surrounded a group of nine police that were lifting a road blockage on the Arequipa-Puno road, and took them hostage," a police officer who asked not to be named told Reuters earlier on Friday.

According to the police, some 1,000 protesters had blocked the highway, some 690 miles (1,100 km) south of the capital Lima, to demand the government invest in the region and express support for a public teachers strike that started this week.

Meanwhile, hundreds of public teachers took to the streets of Lima on Friday to demand the government withdraw an education reform plan, which they say will leave hundreds of teachers unemployed.

Farmers, builders and people from impoverished regions have staged sometimes-violent protests this week to demand the center-left Garcia government invest more in social projects and improve working conditions.

Garcia took office for a second time a year ago, pledging to claw Peru away from a "social catastrophe" by creating jobs and ending growing inequality.

His first term in power ended in 1990 amid economic turmoil and widespread protests.