Overcome the obstacle before it is built
Strikes (Paros) are as much a part of Peruvian public life as landslides are in the rainy season. One has to come to terms with them and has to act carefully. For today, Tuesday, the staff of several transport companies had announced a Paro. Early in the morning the strikers had built barricades using boulders and felled trees. Burning tyres are also part of the picture. As the strikers’ moods can change extremely quickly one should avoid unnecessary discussions, since it needs only a fraction of a second and one’s windscreen is smashed by flying stones.
Doris Manco, the head of our Media Centre, is wiser than the competition. At 2:45a.m. a driver from Curahuasi picked her and Isaac Panez from the Media Centre up from their front doors. In just under 5 hours the three of them reached the city of Sicuani in the south of Cusco State unharmed. Hours before the union representatives thought about starting their work our friends had slipped through all the tight spots. In Peru one needs to be wide awake even at hours where one would normally sleep.
