Hey, Police Dude! Don’t Shoot My Shaman!

Lately I’m struck by the enormous disparity between the sudden crises that erupt in Peru – the events that make news headlines — and the idyllic, often mystical image of Peru that’s promoted by the tourism industry.

As I write this post, thousands of travelers around the globe are busy planning their once-in-a-lifetime visit to The Land Where Time Stands Still. They’re salivating over glossy images of Machu Picchu at sunrise, of colorful handicrafts markets in the Sacred Valley, of gentle Shipibo women embroidering sarongs in the Amazon, and of red-cheeked Andean kiddies hugging llamas. They’re reassured by brochures that show tourists eating The Complimentary Continental Breakfast at The Recommended 3-star Hotel, of smiling tour guides pointing out the stonework at Sacsayhuaman, of safe-looking tour buses navigating the steep roads up the Andes.

Promotional materials like these create the impression that Peru is a sort of mystical, albeit unmanicured Disneyland – a place where one can see “exotic” sights, have unusual adventures – maybe bargain for a fake Moche pot shaped like a giant phallus, maybe have a life-altering encounter with a shaman — and retreat to a cozy hotel room at night, insulated from the world outside. And often visitors’ experiences do meet these expectations.

Except when they don’t.

Except when real life intrudes – as it will do in Peru, even into the most tightly scheduled tour itinerary.

Take, for example, the recent events in the Amazon. A state of emergency has existed for several days in the three Amazonian departments, where 65 indigenous groups are protesting a massive land grab sanctioned by the Peruvian government. There are road blocks and pickets at energy stations, and Alan García is considering sending in the army. It’s all because lands owned by Amazon tribes are said to contain rich oil and gas deposits, and greedy energy companies are intruding into the tribes’ protected land. Now the Peruvian government is changing the legal process by which protected land can be sold to investors, and the Amazonian people aren’t taking it lying down.

Native people with spears clashing with police officers? I don’t think that photo made it into the “Amazon Back-to-Nature Jungle Tour” brochure.

Right now, there must be hundreds of tourists on Amazonian ayahuasco tours stranded in the jungle. Talk about a bad trip.

But that experience is a minor inconvenience compared to the struggle being waged by the tribes to preserve their lands and way of life.

Similarly, confrontations between local people and authorities blocked travelers’ rail access to Machu Picchu this year.

Such confrontations explode the myth that Peru’s indigenous people are quaint relics from a bygone age, content to spin yarn and dig potatoes.

The man who serves as shaman on your “Mystical Peru” tour may be a powerful spokesperson for his community when he gets off duty.

He’s not living in the past. He’s battling the forces of the present – and trying to create a just future for his children.