Violent demonstrations roil Peru’s southern copper and tourism heartland

By Stephan Kueffner

2023.01.24

The focus of Peru’s violent unrest shifted back to the impoverished rural south after mass demonstrations in Lima last week failed to unseat the fragile government of President Dina Boluarte.

The nation’s transport regulator reported dozens of highway blockades as of Monday morning, many of them near the southern border with Bolivia.

The copper-rich south of Peru is the heartland of the country’s mining industry, as well as its tourism sector.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Culture closed Peru’s best-known tourist attraction, the Machu Picchu archaeological site, until further notice.