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My Own Brush with a Violent Protest in Lima
After writing yesterday’s tongue-in-cheek post about the U.S. Embassy warning about foreigners getting swept up in political demonstrations in Peru, I realized that I had nearly been caught in a violent protest myself. (To my credit, I had no illusion that it was a folkloric event.) It was in May 2000, when Fujimori was storming his way to a third presidential term, and protesters all throughout Lima, as well as the rest of the country, were clashing with police. El Híjo, El Fotógrafo and I were at a leather store in downtown Lima, three blocks from the presidential palace, when people started yelling in the street. One minute it was a quiet, gray…
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U.S. Embassy to Tourists in Peru: Don’t Confuse Political Protests with Folk Dancing
Maybe it’s the mood I’m in lately, but I found this recent Warden Message (sent from the U.S. Embassy to U.S. expats in Peru, via email) rather hilarious. The U.S. embassy warns that gringos have been arrested in prior years for inadvertently participating in political demonstrations that they mistook for folkloric events.