Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 26 June 2018

Incan festival pays homage to sun across Andes

By FRANKLIN BRICENO revelers danced in tradi-
Associated Press tional costumes in a colo-
CUZCO, Peru (AP) — Long nial plaza.
before electricity, ancient In the former Incan capital
Incans relied on one sole of Cuzco, Peru, a few thou-
energy source to power sand mainly foreign tourists
their daily lives: the sun. paid upward of $160 for a
So each year when winter grandstand seat to watch
approached and the sun’s hundreds of actors re-en-
daily jaunt across the sky act a llama sacrifice at an
became increasingly short, ancient citadel.
Incan worshippers offered Tens of thousands more,
a festival of music, dance mostly poor Peruvian,
and sacrifices in hopes of spectators congregated
being granted a plentiful on three hillside vantage
harvest. points to watch from afar
The festival was known as with red tape and po-
Inti Raymi, and today it is lice dogs keeping them in
still celebrated throughout check.
the Andes, not to men- “This is too beautiful,” said
tion more than a few yoga Andean religious leaders perform a New Year’s ritual at the ruins of the ancient city of Tiwanaku, Jeane Heap, a retiree from
studios. On Sunday, indig- Bolivia, early Thursday, June 21, 2018. England who was making
enous communities along Associated Press her first trio to Peru.
the path of the once pow- ered for the Southern Hemi- honor the ancient sun god In the small Ecuadorean “The Incans were incredibly
erful Incan Empire gath- sphere’s winter solstice to Inti. town of Cotacachi rowdy intelligent.”q

General strike shuts down Argentine capital

Associated Press The General Labor Confed- raises.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina eration is staging the 24- Many are also angry over
(AP) — hour walkout to protest the the government’s decision
A strike led by Argentina’s economic austerity policies to seek credits from the In-
largest union confedera- of President Mauricio Mac- ternational Monetary Fund,
tion has shut down much ri. which many blame for part
of the country’s capital — There has been widespread economic crises.
freezing public transporta- discontent over continuing The Transportation Ministry
Police stand guard where striking protesters block a road the tion, airlines, ports, schools, high inflation, sharp rises in says more than 70,000 air-
leads to the city from the south, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mon- banks and government of- utility bills, layoffs of public line passengers have been
day, June 25, 2018. fices. workers and a cap on pay affected by the strike.q
Associated Press

Bodies of 3 kidnapped Ecuadorean press workers identified

Associated Press General to the families that
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) this horrendous crime will
— Authorities in Colombia not go unpunished,” Attor-
have identified the remains ney General Nestor Marti-
of two journalists from Ec- nez said in a statement.
uador and their driver who They are journalist Javier
were kidnapped while re- Ortega, photographer
porting in a dangerous Paul Rivas and driver Efrain
border region, officials said Segarra. The remains will be
Monday. turned over to Ecuadorean
The Ministry of Defense an- officials, officials said.
nounced that three bodies Relatives said the remains
recently discovered had would be taken to Ecua-
been confirmed as those of dor’s capital of Quito on
the news team that disap- Wednesday, where they
peared three months ago. would make funeral ar-
The employees of the Ec- rangements.
uadorean newspaper El Ecuadorean attorney Ja-
Comercio were investigat- vier Andrade, who repre-
ing a rise in drug-fueled vio- sents the three families, said
lence along the Colombia- he took the Colombia’s at-
Ecuador border. torney general at his word
“I pledge the word of the In this photo police carry the body of one of three Ecuadorean press workers kidnapped and in promising an open and
State of Colombia and killed in the conflictive border region with Ecuador, Palmira, Colombia, Friday, June 22, 2018. swift investigation into the
of course of the Attorney Associated Press deaths.q