Police Break into Peru University Amid Unrest - VOA News.

Peruvian police raided a university in the capital, Lima, and detained more than 200 people on charges of trespassing and theft on Saturday, as violent protests rock the Andean country.

Peru closed its famed tourist site Machu Picchu on Saturday as authorities expelled protesters from a Lima university where they have been sheltering as they wage relentless antigovernment demonstrations in the capital.

Protests demanding the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte have been ongoing since early December, leaving at least 55 people dead and prompting the government to impose a state of emergency in violence-hit areas.

Authorities announced Saturday yet another protester had died following demonstrations in the country's south, with the victim arriving deceased at a hospital in the Puno region.

Before the closing of Machu Picchu, rail services to the site had been suspended because of damage to the track by demonstrators.

At least 400 people, including 300 foreigners, are stranded at the foot of the site, in the town of Aguas Calientes, and pleading to be evacuated.

"The closure of the Inca trails network and the Machu Picchu citadel has been ordered due to the social situation and to preserve the safety of visitors," the Ministry of Culture said in a Saturday statement.

www.voanews.com/a/peru-closes-machu-picchu-as-protesters-face-arrest-in-lima-/6928437.html

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