Peru protest strands hundreds of tourists near Machu Picchu

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LIMA (Reuters) -At least 900 tourists were stranded near Peru’s ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu on Tuesday, the country’s tourism minister said, after a passenger train service was suspended due to a protest.

Train operator PeruRail said service had been suspended on Monday because the route in Peru’s mountainous Cusco region had been blocked by “rocks of various sizes” as local residents clashed with authorities and bus companies.

Protesters say there is a lack of transparency and fairness in the process of replacing tourist bus operator Consettur after its concession expired, paving the way for different local businesses to benefit from the vital industry.

Tourism Minister Desilu Leon told local radio that 1,400 tourists had been evacuated on Monday but some 900 remained stranded in Aguas Calientes, the closest town to the nation’s most-visited cultural site.

The protest began last week after the concession ended of Consettur, the bus company that ferries tourists from Aguas Calientes to the entrance of the 15th-century Inca citadel.

A neighboring district commissioned another bus company to provide services in its place, but protesters in Aguas Calientes prevented it from operating.

Meanwhile, PeruRail’s local unit said “third parties” had excavated part of its rail route, which affected the track’s stability and slowed down the evacuation of tourists.

New7Wonders, a campaign group which highlights global sites of major cultural heritage, said in a statement over the weekend that it had sent a letter to Peru’s government warning that if the conflict escalates, Machu Picchu’s credibility as one of the new Wonders of the World could be affected.

A global poll organized by the group had in 2007 selected Machu Picchu as a world wonder, alongside the Great Wall of China, India’s Taj Mahal and Mexico’s Chichen Itza.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Carlos Valdez; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)