US tourists stranded near Machu Picchu may not be home for Christmas as protests grip Peru

Hundreds of tourists remain stranded in a town near the ruins of the mountainous city of Machu Picchu as Protests take over the Peruvian country.

Americans, Europeans and South Americans cannot leave the town of Aguas Calientes, near the base of Machu Picchu, since the government has indefinitely suspended the train service. Machu Picchu mayor Darwin Baca said he is trying to set up a helicopter transport to get them out, according to Axios.

“We have asked the government to help us and set up helicopter flights to evacuate tourists,” Baca said.

Among the tourists trapped on the mountain are two Chicago police officers, a pregnant couple from Acworth, Georgia, and a Miami-Dade Fire Department captain, who told Florida Local 10 news that about 200 U.S. citizens they stay in the city. Thousands more are unable to travel across the country due to the protests.

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“From what I understand, the rest of the country is not doing very well,” said Fire Captain Brian Vega. “They’re rioting, burning things.”

peruvian president Pedro Castillo dissolved the country’s Congress on Wednesday and called new elections before a new attempt to remove him from office. He established a new emergency government and said he would make changes to the leadership of the judiciary, the police and the constitutional court.

The measure to remove Castillo referred to allegations of corruption, with six open investigations against the president.

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Castillo’s actions, seen as an effort to preserve power, led Congress to completely remove him and replace him with Dina Boluarte, his former vice president. The appointment proved incredibly unpopular, as many voters view Castillo as “one of us,” while Boluarte remains distant and unknown to them.

Boluarte sent authorities to suppress the protests, but that only led to an increase in violence, leading to the deaths of at least seven people on Thursday night and the injury of more than 50. A judge ordered Castillo’s detention for up to 18 months while prosecutors prepare a case against him.

The demonstrators are now demanding the freedom of Castillo, the resignation of Boluarte and new elections to choose a president and congress. They have burned police stations, blocked highways and seized airport runways.

Boluarte declared a state of emergency on Friday to control the unrest and sent in the military to disperse the protests, bringing the death toll to more than 22 people, The New York Times reported.

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Two ministers resigned over the deaths of Peruvian citizens, and outgoing Education Minister Patricia Correa said the killing of citizens at the hands of the government “has no justification.”

Vega said the riots have left the country, and tourists, in a state of total chaos, and local authorities can’t tell him if they can evacuate people for Christmas. He called on US lawmakers to work on an airlift.

“Hopefully, they could help us in some way and get us back safely to the United States to see our friends and family,” he said.

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Around 5,000 tourists are stranded in the city of Cusco while they wait for flights to resume, the mayor of Machu Picchu told the AFP news agency.

“What they fear is getting to Cusco and then not being able to go to their country, because this could get worse,” said the mayor.

Associated Press contributed to this report.