Inaugurated on 25 April 2000, this establishment, which brings together almost 400 traders, is the largest and perhaps the most important in the region and the country, due to its location on the "backbone" of the "Inca Puma City" and the interesting artistic objects it offers.

Here you can find production, exhibition and sale of different items of the Cusquenian handicraft, in lines of ceramics, painting, textiles, silverware, costume jewellery, stone carving, wood, minerals, metal and leather works, and others that were liked by locals and strangers who visited it.

Now the panorama is different "there is not a single tourist, we try to open trying to get a tourist to pass by and if luck accompanies us we make a sale", Lolo Chávez Miranda, president of this handicraft centre, told Agencia Andina, overwhelmed by the current situation.

During a tour, he explains that the handicraft centre was part of the development of the tourism industry, which has been emerging since the beginning of this century, its corridors used to house up to a thousand tourists attracted by the handicrafts, the most passionate of whom could even find a replica of the paintings of the Cusco School.

The pandemic of covid-19, which affected everyone, plunged them into worry, some craftsmen made surgical masks to sell them, others opted for other trades. They tried to reactivate themselves with credits from financial institutions, and when they saw the return of national tourists they were enthusiastic, but now they are back to uncertainty and anguish.

"We were in a recovery phase, but unfortunately these protests have affected our economy and mental health enormously. People are psychologically very traumatised," explains Chávez Miranda.

During the reactivation

The Centro Artesanal de Cusco seems to have lost the attention of its authorities. During the longed-for return "to normality", the traders and producers were distressed to see how the administration of Mayor Victor Boluarte Medina offered squares and streets for other artisans who were also looking to reactivate themselves.

"This type of reactivation was for one sector, for the most needy, who also make handicrafts, but here we are formal artisans. We haven't had any reactivation", he points out, referring to the Regional Management of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Gercetur), the Regional Government of Cusco and the Provincial Municipality of Cusco, which supports them.

"No, absolutely not, neither in publicity, nor in promoting the handicraft centre, in no way have we had support from any local or national body, and now we are surviving, we are practically on our own", he laments.

"The (current) mayor of Cusco (Luis Pantoja Calvo) has come for a political campaign, in fact there is a commitment with us which we have to crystallise, we will ask him for an audience", he added.

In the midst of the "Division

In Cusco, there is a large sector of the population that is in line with the strike and calls for the resignation of the president Dina Boluarte and demands general elections, and another sector that rejects it; demonstrations and brawls have become evident and in the face of this situation, the Centro Artesanal de Cusco is calling for urgent solutions.

One solution for their sector, once they try to overcome this political and social crisis, is the benefit of an economic bonus or strategies to help them reactivate, as they are aware that they have to work hard for the return of tourists, for whom they are even preparing on 18 February (if the conflicts are solved), music and typical dances "to visit us", he adds.

In the Artisan Centre of Cusco 381 families work, who to avoid the reactions of demonstrators also placed messages alluding to the protests, in the vicinity are two prestigious hotels, which have lined their entrances and windows with wood in order to be the target of attacks. A similar scene can be seen in financial institutions in the historic centre.