Currently, Peru is experiencing several road blockades, mainly in Arequipa, La Libertad, and Ica, due to protests by a group of informal miners, affecting the transportation of table grapes for export.

According to Peruvian media, informal miners in Arequipa and Ica indicated that they are going to “radicalize the protest measure” since the Energy and Mines Commission did not approve the extension of the Integral Mining Formalization Registry (Reinfo).

In addition, the informal miners of Arequipa are considering not giving a truce on the Panamericana Sur highway.

To know the consequences on Peruvian agro-exports, Freshfruitportal.com spoke to Gabriel Amaro, president of the Association of Agricultural Producers of Peru (AGAP), who said that the situation is affecting shipments of some export products as well as the local market.

Amaro explained that the main products affected are “table grapes, milk, garlic, onions, and potatoes. This already happened to us in 2023, in the middle of export season, which had serious consequences.”

He said they hope that in the next few days, the situation will be resolved, “we are coordinating with the authorities so that they can provide security to our goods so that can be ready for export”.

“We are coordinating to let perishable products pass through, both for the local market and for export. We are also looking for alternative routes with authorities. The government should have immediately unblocked the road,” said the AGAP president.

He went on to say that not only large and medium-sized companies are affected, but also small producers that are part of the agro-export chain.

He called on authorities “to exercise their prerogatives and functions under the Constitution and the laws, to allow free transit."

He added that in Peru there is freedom of transit and free enterprise. “Unfortunately these types of attitudes do not respect the rights of others and are affecting hundreds of families, because if you block a road, people cannot work in the logistical processes, nor harvesting.”

“They are also harming the whole country by not being able to boost economic development and the attraction of foreign currency to the country with exports,” he added.

He concluded by saying that this is also having an impact on consumers and, therefore, on families, “because prices will start to increase as they are generating shortages in domestic markets.”