By: Catherine Grace Polatidis '26
Each year, Chez Nous students look forward to their annual Notre Dame trip abroad. This year, a plethora of students patiently waited to attend Notre Dame's spring trip to the culturally rich country of Peru.
The plan was to visit many famous sights throughout Peru, including one of the seven natural wonders, Machu Picchu. However, throughout the months leading up to the trip, Peru faced political turmoil, dangerous rioting, looting, and a severe insurrection, making the spring trip organizers wary of sending their students away to somewhere so unsafe.
As the rest of the world watched airports become swallowed in protesters and strikes that filled Peru’s city streets with fervent chants, the trip was eventually canceled, with the last straw being Machu Picchu’s closing to all visitors.
Still, to this moment, Peruvian civilians remain in constant fear of the violence that has taken over their cities, homes, and beautiful country.
But how did this all start? It all began on December 7th when at that time, Peru's President, Pedro Castillo, planned a self-coup to keep himself in office. Castillo grew up in the poor village of Puña in the Cajamarca region in Northern Peru. He was the third of nine children to his poverty stricken parents where he helped around their farm and lived a humble childhood. Eventually, he became an elementary school teacher and in 2013 received a master's degree in educational psychology.
On December 7th, the former president attempted to dissolve Congress, following President Alberto Fujimori’s footsteps in 1992. Castillo also announced he was going to form a provisional government and draft a new constitution. The Constitutional Court immediately impeached Castillo from his role as president, simultaneously enraging millions of Peruvian peasants who revered their first president that hadn’t come through the social elite and educated channels.
Thousands of Peruvian peasants came to the streets to express their anger. As the cries of the people grew larger, the protests moved from the South to the rest of Peru, building in mass and fury along the way. Despite Castillo’s attempt at a self-coup, large groups of Peruvians still admired him and his beliefs, using violence and destruction to express their outrage. As roads were barricaded, people were killed, and shops were destroyed, Peru went into a 30-day national emergency in hopes to ease the protests.
Right now, Peru is predicted to face a serious economic recession due to inaccessible mining and tourism sights, two of their major sources of income. As the protesters show no signs of stopping and Peru veers on the edge of a crisis, we can only hope that one day, Notre Dame will be able to visit again.
Sources:
Edited by: Sofia Rivera '26, Katarina Radulovic '24, Natalia Cseh '23, and Ms. Brilliant
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