Alejandro Salas, Minister of Culture: “President Castillo is very worried about Kuelap”

The Minister of Culture, Alejandro Salas, addresses the archaeological complex Kuélap, located in the province of Luya, Amazonas region, to make an assessment of landslides that occurred in recent days.

The holder of the Culture portfolio made a stop in Bagua due to the cloudy sky and bad weather that still does not allow him to reach Kuelap. At the scene, he provided statements for the state channel TV Peru and indicated that President Pedro Castillo is concerned about the situation.

“President Pedro Castillo is very concerned about the situation, he has asked us to report on the situation that we are going to show and of course tomorrow we will also be responding to Congress as appropriate to the Kuelap situation,” he said.

EMERGENCY DECLARED IN FEBRUARY

In addition, Alejandro Salas commented that 11 days after taking office in the Ministry of Culture, after evidencing several reports, they decided to declare Kuelap in emergency because two earthquakes in recent months (one in November 2021 of 7.5 degrees and another in February 2022 of 6.8 degrees) weakened the structures of the complex. archaeological.

“Not only that, the heavy rains and the abandonment of the fortress for years meant that drainage works were not carried out so that moisture does not damage or weaken it. The declaration of emergency allowed us to create a working group for the investigation and restoration of the emergency that is needed,” he said.

He indicated that in recent days a transfer was made so that the respective underpinnings can be worked on and that, one of the reasons for his trip, is to be explained to him what happened and what can happen next.

“This is a carelessness for years that not only falls to the Ministry of Culture, there are also jobs that must be done by the regional government, local governments, among other actors, because culture is development, economic reactivation, tourism. It's not about voices coming out to say who is to blame,” he added.

Finally, he said that this Wednesday, April 13, he will attend the Culture Committee of the Congress of the Republic to report on the actions being carried out by his office to contain and restore the collapse of a wall of the archaeological complex of Kuelap.

11 POINTS OF RISK

For his part, also on Tuesday, the regional governor of Amazonas, Oscar Altamirano Quispe, requested the immediate intervention of specialists in the Kuélap archaeological complex, since there would be another 11 points that are at risk of collapse.

He also stated that he has also requested the formation of a high-level commission to take action in the face of the collapse suffered in the last 48 hours, but that such a working group must include the region and the authorities of the area that are related to the monument that is the cultural heritage of the nation.

He specified that the aforementioned commission would be made up of the ministerial portfolios of Culture, Economy and Finance and Foreign Trade and Tourism, as well as the Amazonas Regional Government for the creation of the Kuélap Special Project Executing Unit.

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