The striking workers who shut down Machu Picchu

In recent years, locals have grown frustrated by what they see as a market controlled by the railroad and large hotel owners, write Samantha Schmidt and Michael Robinson Chavez

Few tourists spend much time in the town, locals say (Getty/iStock)

If it were a normal day, thousands of tourists would be stepping off the train and into this picture book town high in the Andes; the gateway to the ancient Inca ruins.

But on this day the 15th century citadel is closed shut, its magnificent stone terraces bereft of visitors. The tracks that bring tourist trains to one of South America’s most visited attractions have been removed or blocked, cutting the town off from the rest of Peru. The hotels and restaurants and handicraft market that ordinarily buzz with paying customers are silent.

Then a man in the central plaza begins banging a large drum. People carrying bright red and white Peruvian flags form a crowd. And a woman with a megaphone calls on neighbors to demand that their country’s government – and the world – listen to them.