マチュピチュ観光列車、デモ隊が線路封鎖 入場券販売方法変更に抗議

【ペルーＡＦＰ＝時事】ペルーにあるインカ帝国時代の城塞（じょうさい）都市遺跡マチュピチュで２５日、入場券販売の民営・オンライン化に抗議するストライキやデモが行われた。（写真はマチュピチュプエブロ近くの線路を封鎖した、オンラインでのチケット販売に反対するデモ隊）
　ツアー業者や土産物店は抗議のために休業。観光列車の線路を住民らが封鎖したため、観光客は遺跡の入り口までの残り３キロを歩くことを余儀なくされた。
　警察は夕方、催涙弾を使って線路をふさいでいたデモ隊を解散させた。逮捕者はない。
　観光客は抗議デモによって旅程を乱されたが、文化省のＳＮＳはマチュピチュへの訪問は「完全に平常通り」だとしていた。
　地元団体は、入場券販売を請け負う企業は年間３２０万ドル（約４億７０００万円）もの手数料を稼ぐことになるとして非難している。
　国連教育科学文化機関（ＵＮＥＳＣＯ）の世界遺産のマチュピチュ遺跡は、人気の観光地となっており、劣化が激しい。政府は昨年９月、遺跡内の３か所を一時閉鎖した。
　一方、１日当たりの入場券の発行数は今月、それまでの最大３８００枚から４５００枚に増やされた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/26-17:06）

Visitors to Peru's iconic Machu Picchu site were met Thursday by protesters angry with the government for privatizing ticket sales at the Inca citadel.
Tour operators and residents closed shops in protest and blocked the tracks of a tourist train, compelling those on board to walk the remaining three kilometers (1.8 miles) to the entrance.
We are against the systematic privatization of Machu Picchu. The people are not in agreement; this (ticketing) company was contracted illegally, community representative Darwin Baca told AFP.
As evening fell, police used tear gas to disperse a group of protesters blocking the railway line, according to an AFP reporter at the scene. Authorities have not reported any arrests.
Tourists saw their itineraries disrupted by the protest, but the Ministry of Culture said on social media that visits to Machu Picchu took place with complete normality.
A local collective claims the company granted the contract for ticket sales, Joinnus, will make as much as $3.2 million per year in commissions.
There is no privatization. We have to ensure absolute control of all the people who enter our citadel because of the effects of heavy tourist traffic on the site, said Ana Pena, an advisor to the Ministry of Culture, at a news conference.
There is a risk that Machu Picchu will be removed from the UNESCO World Heritage list, she added.
Last September Peru temporarily closed three sectors of Machu Picchu due to the impact of the heavy volume of visitors at the site.
Machu Picchu, 130 kilometers from the city of Cusco, was built in the 15th century at an altitude of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) on orders from the Inca ruler Pachacutec.
It is considered a marvel of architecture and engineering and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981.
Tourism is key to Peru's economy, with the country attracting about 4.5 million visitors prior to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
The number of daily access tickets to the citadel were increased to 4,500 per day starting this month, from an earlier maximum of 3,800.