Alejandro Salas, Minister of Culture: “My management declared Kuelap in emergency. It's not going to fall.”

The Minister of Culture, Alejandro Salas, spoke with the press on April 11, from outside the Government Palace about the occurred in Kuelap. He mentioned that in February, his management had declared the place an emergency, because “there was already evidence that both humidity and rain and two telluric movements in November and February caused the structures of this fortress to be weakened.”

He also assured that 140,000 soles were transferred to the Deconcentrated Unit of Amazonas to carry out these works and they created a working group for the archaeological recovery of Kuelap.

“We are going to restore Kuelap properly, we are going to recover this part of our culture that was abandoned for many years. Let the Peruvian people be calm, that the commitment of the Pedro Castillo government to the Ministry of Culture is aimed at recovering Kuélap. Kuelap is not going to fall,” Minister Salas told the media.

At another time, in an interview with Canal N, Amazonas regional governor Oscar Altamirano pointed out that the problems in Kuelap date from, at least, ago fifteen years.

“Here we must define some responsibilities. The national government, through the Ministry of Culture and the COPESCO Plan, has had to deal with maintenance and conservation,” said Altamirano.

In addition, he explained that since 2018, the COPESCO Plan has put out to tender the maintenance of the main gate of the fortress; in 2019, the walls had been destroyed until the beginning and did not improve it and until today it has been abandoned. “We have taken the presidents and, look, until today it is abandoned,” he said.

Governor Altamirano claimed that neither his administration nor the decentralized administration of Culture of Amazonas have autonomy in these cases. “To move a stone, you have to ask for authorization from Lima, from the Ministry of Culture.”

Óscar Altamirano hopes that with the visit of the Minister of Culture this Tuesday, April 12, an opportunity will open up to recover Kuélap before one of the country's most important cultural heritage ends up being destroyed.

EDWARD MÁLAGA SENDS A LETTER TO THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE

The Morado Party congressman, Edward Málaga, spoke out on his social networks and expressed his indignation about what happened in Kuelap, commenting that he had previously warned of the possible consequences of rains on two occasions.

“I am writing to MINCUL to report on urgent actions to preserve Kuelap. We account for our efforts with the former Minister, scientists from the University of Warsaw, DDC Amz and UNTRM. We have asked to summon the minister to the Com de Cultura,” he commented on Twitter.

“Mr. Minister, on my two recent visits to the archaeological site and after a long discussion with specialists and managers of the DDC, I was able to see the pitiful state of the walls due to decades of poor management, as well as the imminent danger of collapse and personal injury to visitors”, he says in the paper.

On the other hand, he thanked Minister Salas for having finalized the declaration of emergency on the spot and hopes that this will facilitate concrete actions that can be promptly rendered to public opinion.

“We reiterate our concern and spirit of collaboration, so that your office can manage the necessary agreements for adequate national or international scientific cooperation, and we are attentive to the implementation of an immediate and effective action plan to prevent another incident from surprising us, affecting the cultural heritage of the nation,” he said.

He concluded by requesting “to take the corrective measures necessary for the failure to take timely decisions, previously warned and to report on immediate actions in this regard”.

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