By this time, you must have already watched the crazy videos of protests happening in Peru during the last month. Lots of deaths and the most apocalyptic news because channels are always eager to show all that about us!!..But is it really like this??
Well, the News gives you what you want to see but this is not all our reality! This is one part of us but it is not all Peruvians! Most of Peruvians are not supporting the protests with violence! And even worse, we are not supporting the devastating attacks to kill people at all. Nor from the citizens, nor from the police. Anybody wants this! This has been driven by a certain group of people that want to get the presidential seat at any cost! Protest is not a protest if that includes vandalic actions! This is a political war.
Unfortunately due to this, many roads have been blocked in the latest weeks and many airports have been closed causing many travellers to cancel their trips but hard-workers Peruvians are standing up!
Here are a few points that the News doesn’t want you to know about my country and it is happening right now!
- The carnival in Cajamarca, in the north of Peru, one of the most iconic carnivals in the country, is ready to receive hundreds of tourists this year in the next few days of February! Regardless of all the efforts from the small groups to make them stop, they have fought to defend their traditions and overall their hard work to make this happen. Even a group of dancers from Colombia will participate this year! The slogan in their social medias for the people who protest is ´Don’t come to ruin Cajamarca, we want peace and development´.
- Same story is happening with the carnivals in Pucallpa and in the different provinces of the north of Peru! Hard workers Peruvians are so proud of their traditions and want to keep moving one. So this is a great reason to know more about the north of Peru.
- The road blocks in the south are disappearing little by little, so finally things are getting back to normal! Because who has the money to stay out of their houses for more an month without working and without an external financing??
- Peru is not a dangerous country as it is shown in the News these days with a lot of bombs everywhere!! I am highlighting this because I was travelling during January away from Peru and OMG! I could feel how bad it looked from outside. Reading those news I literally felt that I was going to receive a bomb as soon as I put a foot in Peru. I even received messages from friends outside worried for me, but again, This is not like this! People are working as usual. Nobody is going to hurt you!
- We have passed different problems in the past but at the end it doesn’t matter which government we have, Peruvians always stand up for our own effort! If you have been in Peru before, you must have realised that we rarely have people asking for money on the streets. Peruvians don’t do that because we prefer to sell candies before begging for money! (and this is a extreme example) People are VERY creative inventing jobs in order to do something but not begging for money, this is how Peruvians are! And this is how we face problems.
- How long will the protests last? Right now it is in discussion that there will be new elections in October this year, this means that if that is approved, things will be chilled until then, and if not, there will be another solution soon because people need to keep working and these protests are not sustainable anymore. So if you have plans to come to my country in the next few months. I will say that this pretty much will be over soon.
- Finally! If you need any detailed information on the situation of Peru these days for a film project you are planning for the next few months, please don’t hesitate to contact me as I will be happy to reply to your questions.
- And sorry for all my ‘exclamation marks’ but I am so sick that the News only look for the worst for us these days. We are better than our problems!
Documentary Filmmaker & Fixer in Peru 