comment: >
  
  If a corrupt legislature has the power to gun down innocent protesters, then they are using more power than is mandated to them. So it is a coup government.
  The powers granted to the legislature were granted dictatorially.
  The single individual needs to use that power because of the corruption. A corrupt Congress can effectively block all good and decent acts because they want to be bribed more. And if the president isn't obsequious enough, they can impeach him. Corruption is the core problem here.
  Imagine 100 Steve Bannons, Andrew Breitbarts and Donald Trumps deciding whether or not the 2020 election is valid and then gunning down people who rightfully reject the results of their schemes. That's what is happening in Peru. You can use the powers of any Constitution for bad intentions.
context: From the article:
  "The stranded tourists at Machu Picchu are not the first to be stuck there during the protests, which have disrupted transport services and damaged nearby train tracks. Rail services to the site were suspended on Thursday.
  Last month, the authorities had to rescue hundreds of tourists nearby who had been stuck for days."
  That's not great 😬 >
  
  They're stranded in the town of Aquas Calientes, not in the ruin itself >
  
  Which honestly is a beautiful place to be stranded. >
  
  Sounds like they’re in hot water though >
  
  Gd I wish I had a free award for that >
  
  I got you, fam. >
  
  ...crickets chirping... >
  
  ...cats meowing... >
  
  I'm from Peru, my advice is not to come at least for the next few months. There are already 50 dead by police shots in the streets of the cities. There is talk of stronger uprisings and seizures of cities, the country's highway system is completely useless with 110 points where people have taken over the highways (In Cusco, the train tracks have been destroyed in various sections, which will not be rebuilt until who knows when and what is really happening in the streets of various cities is not shown on television channels). The airports of Arequipa, Puno and Cuzco are being assaulted daily and several police stations have already been burned. Tourists are warned. The police shoot first and then keep shooting. DO NOT COME. >
  
  Stay safe, friend. >
  
  My friends and I did the hike to Machu Picchu only for a strike over water issues to ensue. Closed down the train, so we had to walk 18 miles over the train tracks to get out of Aguas Caliente to the pickup point where we could be given a ride back to Cusco. edit: took us 6 hours because we left after lunch, which in retrospect was dumb. We were walking in pitch black for much of the way. >
  
  I did this hike in April. The trains shut down bc of protests and my group was stranded in Aguas caliente. We walked ~7 miles and a bus was able to pick us up for another 8 hours of driving to get back to Cisco.   Also walking in the dark for most of this… the walk wasn’t the thought part. Driving on the side of mountains was terrifying. Nevertheless, it was the trip of a lifetime and I have no regrets. >
  
  I just turned 70 and my wife of 40 years and I were going to Machu  Picchu for our long planned trip. I have been reading books for years and was so keen on the trip. Sad as I am, I can’t help but feel sympathy for the indigenous population.  So this week we will probably cancel our plans for March as this isn’t going to get resolved anytime soon. We should have planned a trip to Russia. They really need an uprising. >
  
  Do it. Use your powers for good! >
  
  Can someone fill us into what the hell is going on? Protests all over the country? >
  
  We were there when Machu Picchu was closed. Last June - July. Luckily, we hiked in so we were able to hike out. Train resumed so we were able to take the train out. I don't understand: why not stay in Aguas Calientes? It's 5 miles to that town. Then 9 miles back to civilization. In either case, I hope people don't ruin the area and go lord of the flies. Stay safe peeps.
  NVM, everything is closed to tourists. Even the trails. They fucked. >
  
  Went from advice to all is lost pretty quick. >
  
  Well, I talked with a mate there. Locals are starving, and angry that things are not progressing. >
  
  Might as well hit the Salkantay and make your way back towards Cusco at that point >
  
  I feel bad for these people, but it might be time to stop travelling to places that have national states of emergency declared. >
  
  This is why every time I book an international flight I look up the US Govt Travel Advisory Warning. 
  It assigns countries a score 1-4, 4 being the most dangerous. It takes into account violence, political instability, and COVID restrictions now too. 
  An example right now would be: Japan 1, Ghana 2, Peru 3, Russia 4 >
  
  Their classification system is kind of whacky, though.  The Netherlands (one of the safer countries in the world) is also a 2 right now, but so are Azerbaijan and Armenia, which are very nearly in an open shooting war with each other, and in fact were just in an open war like a year or two ago.
  Level 3 currently encompasses a rather diverse range of reasoning including Peru with civil unrest, Jamaica with a crime wave,  El Salvador with THE HIGHEST MURDER RATE ON THE PLANET BY A HUGE MARGIN, and the Marshall Islands "because they have COVID restrictions in place." >
  
  I just went to El Salvador for a week and it was incredibly chill. >
  
  As a salvadoran, they keep the parts of the capital you'd see as a tourist and (especially) the surf beaches and related areas as clean as possible. >
  
  Some of the beaches we saw were covered in trash, and there were definitely very run down areas, but the people in those places were very welcoming and friendly. I liked the surfing part, too, but I’m glad I got to see some of the real El Salvador. I don’t speak very much Spanish but my family does and we had a guide who introduced us to local artisans and took us to some cool spots. And your mountains are gorgeous. >
  
  I don't mean clean of garbage i mean clean of murder >
  
  From what I’ve seen, Machu Picchu is exactly the kind of place that could use a nice long break from tourism. >
  
  I like how I didn't know Peru was going up in flames until some tourists were inconvenienced. >
  
  One of the best weeks of my life was hiking the Inca trail and proposing to my wife along the way.  I couldnt imagine it being ruined by being stranded at the end. Hope they get out of there safely. >
  
  You'd have a much better story out of it. >
  
  Yeah, his story is so incredibly lame as is /s >
  
  This is more than odd. Sure, many tourists arrive and leave by train. But a large percentage of visitors arrive like me some years ago by taking a bus to Aguas Caliente or Hidroelectrica from Cuzco and then make the short walk (2-3 hours or so) along the railway lines. Unless you're disabled or very old so you can't make that sort of mini-hike (and then you'd likely not enjoy MP in the first place) - why would you be stranded? >
  
  I did this very thing last February. The road was very scary with steep dropoffs with no shoulder. There were many altars to accident victims on the roadside. There was a Mercedes Sprinter van suspended two thousand feet above the valley in some tree tops on the cliffside, one thousand feet below where it had left the road.  The walk into Agua Calliente was refreshing after feeling so close to death on the ride. I went directly to the hot springs and had a nice soak. I took the train back. In all it was a great adventure. >
  
  There are enough hotel rooms in Aguas Calientes to make the stay easy.  For those prone to altitude sickness like me being stranded at Aguas Calientes would be far easier than Cusco. >
  
  
  There are enough hotel rooms in Aguas Calientes to make the stay easy.  For those prone to altitude sickness like me being stranded at Aguas Calientes would be far easier than Cusco.
  
  rooms are fine. When the locals are running out of food it's probably getting less pleasant. >
  
  Nah it is. It is like Jan 6 succeeded, with fraudulent election claims (plus the racism!). They had tried to do a coup before. Congress in Peru can impeach a president for "moral incapacity', whatever that means. So that Congress, which is notoriously corrupt can on a whim overthrow the president. And shoot people, apparently. >
  
  I'm not arguing if the congress is corrupt, they are. I'm not even arguing the impeachment was justified (again Castillo would've mostly likely won and remained in power). I'm arguing one side has powers under the constitution and the other does not. On the triage list of issues, a single individual trying to use power over what is mandated to him is a bigger issue than corruption.