Seven young Portuguese are being held in a hotel in Peru’s second largest city, where conflicts over the removal of Peru’s president make it impossible for them to return to Portugal, the mother of one of the young people told Lusa. .
“They were trapped in a hotel in Arequipa, where they got with great difficulty. They were stopped on Saturday evening as they continued on the Pan-American Highway towards Cusco. They were on a bus where they stayed for 50 hours because the roads were cut out by demonstrators,” he told Luce Paula Rodriguez.
Protests in Peru have intensified in recent days due to road closures and the seizure of the country’s second largest airport in Arequipa, which is located about 1,200 kilometers from the capital, Lima.
When they realized it would be difficult for the bus to leave, the young Portuguese, along with two Danes, two Peruvians and a guide, decided to walk to the nearest village, Paula Rodriguez said.
“They arrived at a village in the middle of the desert, where they managed to get a van that allowed them to get to another village,” said the mother of the 24-year-old boy, with whom he continues to maintain regular telephone contact.
When the young people arrived in Peru, they were taken by surprise by the riots caused by the overthrow of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, who was arrested on charges of facilitating a “coup d’état.” In Arequipa, about 2,000 protesters stormed the airport’s runway on Monday, halting air traffic.
In addition to the airport blockade, demonstrations in Peru have intensified due to road closures across the country as part of a broad popular and local movement that opposes Lima’s political elite.
The return flight of the young Portuguese was scheduled for this Wednesday at 16:30 (Lisbon time), but at that time they were still living in a hotel in Arquipa, about 1200 kilometers from the capital.
The young people are colleagues in a medical course at the University of Coimbra, they completed a six-year course and passed their final exam, and as a reward they decided to take a two-week trip: one week in Rio de Janeiro and another in Peru.
On Monday, they tried to contact the Portuguese embassy in Peru, with which they were in contact, but the parents of the young people are beginning to worry that they cannot guarantee a quick return.
“Now they are stuck in a hotel waiting for a decision to return,” said Paula Rodriguez, explaining that the idea is to get to Lima and then fly to Europe.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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