International

Drought in Peru Andes proves fatal for alpacas, potato crops

Photo: Juan Carlos Cisneros / AFP

| By AFP | Juan Carlos Cisneros, with Ernesto Tovar in Lima |

A drought in the Peruvian Andes has ravaged alpaca flocks and withered potato crops, forcing the government to declare a state of emergency on Saturday for 60 days in more than 100 districts.

Hardest hit are rural communities in the Arequipa and Puno departments in Peru’s southern region, where the government decreed a state of emergency “due to imminent danger from water shortage.”

The national weather service, Senamhi, described the drought as one of the worst in the past half century, exacerbated by the offshore La Nina weather phenomenon in the central Pacific Ocean.

“November 2022 was one of the driest (months) in the last 58 years in various weather stations in the Andean region,” Senamhi reported.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

Andean hamlets for Quechua- and Aymara-speaking indigenous groups have faced critical losses of crops and livestock herds.

“For lack of forage and water, the alpacas are dying. My alpacas have died,” Isabel Bellido, an alpaca farmer, told AFP from her mountain home in Lagunillas near Puno, a regional capital at 4,200 meters (12,550 feet) in elevation some 850 kilometers (530 miles) southeast of Lima.

Carlos Pacheco, a veterinarian and expert in llamas and alpacas, said a worst-case scenario would be for the drought to endure.

“The animals are already underweight, and there is no pasture,” he said.

At high altitude in the Andes, temperatures can drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four degrees Fahrenheit), and cause mass deaths of sheep and alpacas, vital to the subsistence of dwellers in mountain hamlets.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

Divine supplication

In the winter of 2015, an estimated 170,000 alpacas died from extreme cold and drought in Peru.

Local press reports say hundreds of alpaca crias, or babies, and lambs have already died this year.

Shallow lakes have dried up, leaving only scattered puddles, as in the case of the Parihuanas Lagoon near Lagunillas.

In the neighboring Santa Lucia district, the Collpacocha Lagoon has completely disappeared, leaving only a cracked mud lake bed.

Near Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable inland sea in the world at 3,812 meters in elevation, the inhabitants of the Aymara-speaking village of Ichu appeal to a higher authority to end the drought.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

They have taken out the venerated Catholic figure of Our Lady of the Cloud in a procession through the fields to plead for the first time in years for holy intervention to bring rain.

“We’ve planted our crops in the customary way but the potatoes aren’t sprouting because of the intense heat. It is worrisome,” said Daniel Ccama, a community leader in Ichu.

“Let the rains come Father Jesus. Don’t punish us father,” the procession participants chanted in their native Aymara.

Related Topics:Alpacas Andes Perú Potato

Up Next

More than 20 % have suffered violence, harassment at work: UN

Don't Miss

Colombia says pact reached with ELN rebels on displaced people

20260330_renta_mh_300x250

International

Maradona’s daughter accuses medical team of “horrible manipulation” in court

One of the daughters of Diego Maradona testified in court this Tuesday, breaking down in tears as she denounced what she described as “absolute and horrible manipulation” by her father’s medical team, during an emotional hearing in Argentina.

Gianinna Maradona stated that she and her siblings agreed to home hospitalization after doctors presented it as the best option following the neurosurgery Maradona underwent on November 3, 2020.

The football icon died on November 25 of that year, and the ongoing trial seeks to determine whether the conditions of his home care were appropriate.

According to Gianinna, what the family found at the residence where Maradona was recovering did not match what had been promised. She testified that there was no adequate medical equipment, constant monitoring, or even an ambulance available, despite assurances of continuous care.

“The manipulation was absolute and horrible,” she said during the hearing in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

She accused members of the medical team, including neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, and psychologist Carlos Díaz, of misleading the family.

“I trusted these people, and all they did was manipulate us and leave my son without a grandfather,” she added.

Later in her testimony, recalling that six years have passed since her father’s death, she became emotional and said she struggled deeply with grief in the aftermath.

International

Trump extends Iran ceasefire after Pakistan mediation request

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on Tuesday that he will extend the ceasefire with Iran, which was set to expire on Wednesday, following a request from Pakistan.

In a statement shared on Truth Social, Trump said the truce will remain in place until Iran presents a proposal and negotiations are concluded, regardless of the outcome.

“I will extend the ceasefire until their proposal is presented and negotiations are completed, whatever the result,” the U.S. leader stated.

Trump justified the decision by claiming that Iran’s government is “deeply divided” and noting that Pakistani authorities, acting as mediators, requested a pause in military action until Iranian leaders and representatives submit a unified proposal.

International

Venezuelan opposition demands election date and minimum wage increase

A group of opposition members from the Zulia Humana and former political prisoners on Tuesday demanded that authorities set a date for elections in Venezuela and increase the minimum wage, which has been frozen since 2022 and is currently worth just a few cents per month according to the Banco Central de Venezuela.

During a press conference in Maracaibo, Professor Eduardo Labrador stressed the urgency of establishing an electoral timeline. “We demand that a date be set for elections so Venezuelans can have free and transparent voting. It is essential to have that date now,” he said.

Economist Rodrigo Cabezas, who served under the late President Hugo Chávez, also called for an increase in the minimum wage, arguing that it is feasible through economic policy measures, although he did not specify an amount due to limited public data.

Cabezas warned that Venezuela experienced “galloping inflation” between March of last year and March 2026, a stage that precedes hyperinflation—a phenomenon the country has already faced. However, he clarified that Venezuela is not currently in hyperinflation, expressing hope that it will not return.