Peru Lawmakers Open Sites to Development
LIMA, Peru — Peru's Congress has ratified a contested tourism development law whose critics say will put the Andean nation's rich archeological heritage at risk.
The legislation would ease restrictions on private development near archeological and historic sites, opening the way for new hotels and restaurants. Lawmakers pushed to repeal the provisions after an earlier vote, but Congress instead confirmed it.
It was not clear Wednesday whether President Alan Garcia would sign the measure into law.
Regional government officials in Cuzco, home to many ancient Inca sites, including Peru's top tourist destination Machu Picchu, said they were planning an indefinite strike against the law starting Friday.
Last week, residents in the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco in Peru's southern Andes burned tires and blocked roads and public transportation in protest of the law, which they said threatened to their cultural heritage.
Walter Alva, a prominent Peruvian archeologist, who led one of Peru's most famous archaeological digs uncovering the Moche Lords of Sipan tombs near the northern coast in the late 1980s, said the law could allow development to encroach upon historical sites.
"They should change that law so that it gives investors incentives to develop tourism infrastructure, but without this idea of investing in our monuments or cultural patrimony," he said.
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AP article from the Houston Chronicle.
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