The Accidental Activist

It was my first time in Cusco, or Peru for that matter, and I found myself knee deep in a political matter of local concern. Funny thing was, it happened to be a “matter” which affects my business…that is, travel.

We had just arrived in Cusco and after a nap and some cocoa tea the first order of business was to take a city tour with a stop at the cathedral. Our guide, in addition to explaining about the city’s history, also informed us that there was a fight going on in congress regarding the certification of Peruvian guides. According to our guide, one congress person had proposed doing away with any sort of education for licensed guides. Currently guides must undergo 4-6 years of higher education to become certified of licensed.
As he’s explaining the situation our driver arrives at the plaza in front of the cathedral and we emerge from the van to the shots and whistles of a huge crowd of a hundred or more people. I quickly glean that these are tour guides and their catcalls told me that we were going to cross the picket line with our guide. I’m thinking this is not good, so I just sort of hide behind my sunglasses.

As we walk to the entrance of the cathedral our guide speaks with one of the leaders of the movement. I do not know what he said as I do not speak Spanish. But he then hands me the bull horn and tells me “They want you to talk Catherine.” My reaction was not to say no. Not to say I can’t do it. No, my reaction was to ask again for him to summarize the issues. I repeat them silently in my head, grab the bull horn and turn to the crowd. My fellow travelers are looking at me with dumfounded, altitude induced wonder. (In other words they had no idea what was going on). For a minute I am nervous but tell myself, ‘You are good at public speaking.’ (Yea, right.) Then the words spill forth…” HELLO! WE ARE FROM THE UNITED STATES. (pause…silence…the catcalls and whistles stop) WE HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE PROPOSAL BEFORE CONGRESS AND WE DO NOT AGREE WITH IT.” The crowd erupts in cheers, waving their signs. Then, seizing the moment and maybe feeling a bit of the rush that some other South American female political leaders have felt before a crowd, “WE…ARE WITH….THE …TOUR GUIDES!” The crowd cheers, applauds, waves their signs. I, feeling even more empowered, raise my fist in triumph. And with that, I return the bull horn and we go into the cathedral.
Needless to say both I and my travel mates were shocked and humored by what had happened.

We went into the cathedral, saw the silver, gold and art, and started to wonder if maybe I might become a political target! (JK) We also figured that by offering me to speak we successfully crossed that picket line. Meantime, I found it difficult to concentrate on the guide’s words because in my head, I was silently composing my next political speech. I mean, you never know when you might be asked to lead a crowd…

The next day, my people (the tour guides) were camping in the square, ready for their next protest. We meet our guide for the visit to the Sacred Valley. Apparently I made the local news. He told us that part of my speech was used as a sound bite in a report on the protest. The reporter indicated that my views were what American tourists think. Oh really? Well I guess that as the owner of a tour company I believe that educated, licensed guides, are extremely important. I just wasn’t ready for my new role as leader (albeit for five minutes) of an organized political protest. Hmmm…it was fun. I wonder if they want me to come back. I’ve got my second speech ready.