International
Peru closes Machu Picchu as protesters arrested in Lima
January 22 | By AFP |
Peru closed the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu Saturday amid steady anti-government protests, stranding hundreds of tourists for hours, as authorities expelled protesters from a Lima university where they have been holed up as part of the crisis engulfing this divided country.
Protests demanding the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte have been ongoing since early December, leaving 46 people dead and prompting the government to impose a state of emergency in violence-hit areas.
This crisis triggered by the ouster of leftist Indigenous president Pedro Castillo last month stems largely from a gaping inequity between Peru’s urban elite and poor rural Indigenous people in the Andean region who saw him as one of their own and working to make their lives better.
Authorities announced Saturday yet another protester had died following demonstrations Friday in the town of Ilave in that Andean region in the south.
Video footage from Ilave that went viral on social media shows police shooting right at a crowd of Indigenous demonstrators in the town square. Enraged protesters responded by setting fire to a police station, local media reported.
Clashes between police and the crowd in that town near Lake Titicaca and the border with Bolivia left 10 people injured, hospital officials said.
Prior to the closing of Machu Picchu, rail services to the site had already been suspended due to damage to the track by demonstrators. The only way to get up to the popular tourist site is by train.
At least 400 people, including 300 foreigners, were stranded at the foot of the site, in the town of Aguas Calientes, and pleading to be evacuated.
Rescue teams later evacuated 418 tourists, the Tourism Ministry said in a Twitter post accompanied by pictures of a train and seated travelers.
“The closure of the Inca trails network and the Machu Picchu citadel has been ordered due to the social situation and to preserve the safety of visitors,” the Ministry of Culture said in a Saturday statement.
Tourism is vital for Peru’s economy, representing between three to four percent of the country’s GDP.
‘I’m worried’
In Lima, where two days of mass mobilization by demonstrators from the country’s poor Andean region had seemingly concluded, the situation Saturday remained tense.
As night fell hundreds more protesters gathered in the city, mainly around the Congress building.
During the day security forces used an armored vehicle to breach the gate of the University of San Marcos in the city’s downtown, in an attempt to expel protesters who have been sleeping there.
A large contingent of police searched occupants, sometimes forcing them to lie on the ground, AFP journalists observed.
Interior Minister Vicente Romero Canal N television that police intervened after university authorities said some of the squatters were committing crimes. He did not specify what these were.
Around 200 people were arrested, said Alfonso Barrenechea, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.
Protesters are trying to keep up pressure on the Peruvian government, defying a state of emergency that now covers almost one-third of the country.
The European Union on Saturday condemned the chaos and the “very large number of casualties,” calling for a peaceful political solution in Peru.
The protests were sparked when former president Castillo, a rural schoolteacher, was removed from office and arrested on December 7 after attempting to dissolve the country’s legislature and rule by decree, amid multiple corruption investigations.
Among the 46 dead since the protests began, 45 were protesters and one was a police officer.
International
Floods in Central Vietnam leave 28 dead, thousands displaced
The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in central Vietnam has risen to 28, with six people reported missing and 43 injured, local newspaper VnExpress reported Friday night.
More than 22,100 homes remain flooded, primarily in the cities of Hue and Da Nang. Floods and landslides have destroyed or swept away 91 houses and damaged another 181, the report added.
Around 245,000 households are still without electricity, particularly in Da Nang, where over 225,000 homes are affected.
Additionally, 80 stretches of national highways are blocked or disrupted due to landslides. Authorities expect the flooding to continue for another day or two in the region.
International
FBI foils ISIS-Inspired attack in Michigan, arrests five teens
Kash Patel did not provide further details, but police sources told CBS News that the potential attack was “inspired” by the Islamic State (ISIS).
“This morning, the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested several individuals in Michigan who were allegedly planning a violent attack during the Halloween weekend,” Patel wrote on X.
“Thanks to swift action and close coordination with our local partners, a possible terrorist act was prevented before it could be carried out,” he added.
CBS reported that five people between the ages of 16 and 20 were arrested on Friday. At least one of them was reportedly acquainted with a former member of the Michigan National Guard, who was arrested in May for plotting an ISIS-inspired attack on a U.S. military facility in the Detroit suburbs.
International
U.S. warns China over Taiwan during high-level defense talks in Kuala Lumpur
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expressed concerns over China’s growing military activity near Taiwan during a meeting on Friday with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in Kuala Lumpur.
“It was a constructive and positive meeting,” Hegseth wrote on X. “I emphasized the importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and raised U.S. concerns about China’s actions around Taiwan,” the self-governed island that Beijing claims and does not rule out invading.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea. According to Trump, Taiwan was not discussed during their talks.
“The United States does not seek conflict and will continue to firmly defend its interests, ensuring it maintains the capability to do so in the region,” Hegseth added in his message.
Friday’s encounter followed a September 9 video call between Hegseth and Dong. Their previously planned meeting at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore was canceled due to Dong’s absence from the event.
Trump’s sit-down with Xi — their first since 2019 — resulted in some trade agreements but avoided addressing the issue of Taiwan, a long-standing source of tension between the world’s two largest powers.
Trump has taken a more ambiguous stance on Taiwan’s future compared with former President Joe Biden, who repeatedly stated that Washington would support Taipei if China launched an invasion. The Republican president has also criticized Taiwan for “stealing” the U.S. semiconductor industry.
Floods in Central Vietnam leave 28 dead, thousands displaced
FBI foils ISIS-Inspired attack in Michigan, arrests five teens
U.S. warns China over Taiwan during high-level defense talks in Kuala Lumpur
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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