Machu Picchu rail line expected to be restored ahead of schedule

Train access to Peru’s sacred Inca citadel Machu Picchu is expected to be restored on March 29, three days ahead of schedule, the general manager of Peruvian rail firm Ferrocarril Transandino, or Fetransa, said Thursday. Fetransa General Manager Rómulo Guidin told state-run news agency Andina that travelers would be able to reach the 15th century [...]

Seven killed by flooding in Cusco region

Seven people were killed Wednesday when heavy rainfall flooded the Quitamayo river in Pisac, a town located in the Sacred Valley in Peru’s southern Cusco department. According to Radio Programas Peru, the people were employed by Construyendo Peru, a State-run national program which provides temporary work for the unemployed living in poverty. The employees were [...]

Cusco tourism office proposes alternative trail to Machu Picchu

An alternative hiking trail to Machu Picchu is being proposed by the head of Cusco’s Regional Office for Foreign Trade and Tourism, Víctor Hugo Pérez, to allow tourists access to the sacred Inca citadel earlier than expected. Pérez said that if the Piso de Valle trail is approved by the Machu Picchu Management Unit, UNM, the citadel could [...]

New train companies to compete on the Machu Picchu line

One new company, possibly two, will be competing with Peru Rail later this year, providing more railroad services on the highly-prized line to the pre-hispanic citadel of Machu Picchu, Peru’s key tourist attraction. The first company to be granted the license is Inca Rail, formed by the Peruvian company Grupo Crosland and Turistren of Colombia [...]

Potato Science for the Poor: UN conference held in Cusco

More than 90 of the world’s leading authorities on the potato met in Cusco this week to discuss sustainable potato-based systems, in a four-day conference sponsored by the International Potato Center, CIP, and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO. One of the expected outputs of the conference has been dubbed the “Cusco Challenge,” a [...]

Archaeologists discover structures described in important colonial text

Archaeologists have reportedly uncovered remains of buildings in the Sacsayhuamán fortress overlooking the former Inca capital of Cusco which could be structures described in the Comentarios Reales de los Incas, an important chronicle of the Inca empire written by the first mesitzo writer of colonial Andean South America, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. The base [...]

Cusco’s APEC meetings assigned to Lima and Callao

The High Commission for the 2008 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum has announced that Lima and the port city of Callao will replace Cusco as the venue for the scheduled APEC tourism meetings. According to Agencia Andina, the decision was made because of the “logistic and administrative conditions” in Lima and Callao.

Peruvian Executive approves citizen arrest clause

Peru’s Executive approved a bill on Wednesday that will implement a Citizen’s Arrest clause found in Article 260 of the Code of Criminal Procedures. The clause will allow citizens to detain and turn over to police anyone found committing a crime in public. The bill could be implemented by April 1 after it is sent [...]

Peruvian Executive strips Cusco of 2008 APEC meetings

Defense Minister Ántero Flores-Aráoz announced today that Cusco will not host meetings during the 2008 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Peru. The announcement follows two days of protests in the former Inca capital last week and a recent statement by Cusco’s Regional Assembly saying it is organizing further strikes over a contentious tourism development law. [...]

Cusco prepares for future protests

Cusco’s Regional Assembly has decided to organize another protest over a contentious tourism development law passed by Congress in mid-February. The president of the assembly, Efraín Yépez, said they have not set a date for the 72-hour protest, but added they will seek support from other departments, particularly in Peru’s jungle region to make it [...]

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