Peru & Tibet...

The current situation in Tibet, the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing and everything being said about it have been on my mind quite a bit lately. Then again with all the news coverage it has been receiving it’s probably no surprise, but it was something that happened over the weekend that really got my attention.

I was walking home after grabbing a bite to eat at a local restaurant when I noticed a number of people sitting on the steps in front of the cathedral facing the Cusco’s main plaza. At least subconsciously I assumed that it was probably a protest relating to some workers union or the ongoing protests against privatisation of the tourism sector, but then one banner caught my eye. The banner (in Spanish) basically said: “Tibet = Peru 500 years later”.

I think what caught my attention about it is that (and this relates to my thoughts on globalisation as colonialism) those holding the vigil recognised something in what is happening in Tibet with what their ancestors experienced at the hands of the Spanish around half a millennium ago. I just stood there for a while watching them without really having a specific thought, but just feeling as though we were seeing the continuation of an unending cycle. On the one hand it was a disheartening feeling because the problem seemed so huge, yet at the same time it felt as though that simple hand-made banner was a symbol of global solidarity.