March On The Airport

Things came to a head on December 14th, 2022 when the largest mobs formed and marched on the airport. They intended to confront the police and seize control of the Alejandro Velasco Astete Cusco International Airport.

The protesters congregated in the city center and marched through the streets imposing the strike that had been called, making sure businesses were closed and that people were staying home unless to protest. I was aware that they intended to go to the airport, so I decided to get there ahead of time and found where the police lines were being formed.

It was unnerving waiting for the mob to arrive as I staked out my photo positions and scouted escape routes in the event of danger. I won’t lie, when the protesters finally arrived and the standoff began, my heart was pounding, but there was a job to be done.

As a photojournalist and a visual storyteller, I feel obligated to document and tell the stories that are presented before me, and this happened to be it. Whether it was fate or luck, this was the situation I found myself in, and I intended to do my job as best I could.

Things escalated quickly as the mass of protesters were met with a volley of tear-gas canisters being launched at them on the main road into the airport. They began to spread out into the surrounding streets and alleyways around the airport looking for an opening to get to the airport perimeter. The police scrambled to get into formation and cut them off.

The protesters came armed with rocks and huaracas, which are slings woven from alpaca wool and are an ancestral weapon. They can sling the rocks extremely hard and far using these. They fired upon the police en masse.

In turn, the police repelled and dispersed the protesters using tear gas. They were authorized to use live weapons if needed or deemed necessary. Eight protesters had been killed by live fire in other cities already, so there was grave concern that it would happen here in Cusco as well.

There were still pedestrians and regular citizens about that were not participating in the protests. Some of the protesters posed as such, and managed to get behind the police lines and rushed the perimeter wall of the airport. They began using concrete posts to smash multiple holes through the wall. A few protesters got through the holes in the wall and set fire to the grass surrounding the tarmac. Police were able to extinguish these quickly and drove the protesters back out.

The protesters that managed to get behind the police lines would attack with rocks from behind. This would cause the police to break formation at times and the larger crowds would attempt to rush in. The police would quickly regroup. They also had officers in plain clothes that identified the protesters that had gotten behind the lines and worked to detain those that they could and loaded them into armored vehicles.

This back and forth continued for hours. The protesters would look for opportunities to advance and the police would push them back with tear gas. I was caught between these a few times as I tried to get my photographs. It was my first experience being hit with tear gas. It is an extremely unpleasant experience that left me unable to see or breathe, disoriented, and in pain. It left me completely vulnerable.

Luckily a woman helped me by ushering me into her home and sheltering me. She dabbed my eyes and face with water until I could see and breathe properly again. This was very fortunate as the protesters were targeting me with rocks and threatened me on multiple occasions. They did not want me to take photos. When I was disabled by the tear gas, it gave them the opportunity to assault and rob me.

Once I was able to function again, I thanked her profusely and ventured back into the melee. At this point, it was late in the afternoon, and the shadows were getting long. I wanted to make sure I was out of there before sunset as I would be extremely vulnerable once it was dark.

I looked for an opening to get from behind the police line and through the mob so I could get out. I found my opportunity and made it to the main road leading from the airport into the city. There was still no traffic on the roads due to the strike. With no taxi or other ride available, I did the long 7km walk to my apartment not knowing what would happen through the night and what the morning would bring.

MB