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Home › Projects
Marriott's Sheraton Hotel Cusco Peru
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On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date

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By: BankTrack, in collaboration with community activists
Created on: 2020-12-28 16:03:04
Last update: 2020-12-28 16:03:04

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The hotel construction site, pictured in 2014. Photo: Comision de Juristas del Cusco
Sector Hotels and Motels
Location
Status
Planning
Design
Agreement
Construction
Operation
Closure
Decommission

About Marriott's Sheraton Hotel Cusco

Marriott International and its local partners Inmobiliaria R&G and Corrales Ingenieros, with financing from Banco de Crédito del Perú, have destroyed a registered UNESCO World Heritage site in the historic Inka city of Cusco, Peru. The site consisted of the Inka Huacapunku temple and an Inka cemetery. Five ceremonial burial sites were removed from the cemetery, together with more than 500 Inka artifacts. The demolition of the temple and the illegal removal of corpses and ceremonial artifacts from the cemetery took place to clear the land to build a Marriott "Four Points by Sheraton" hotel on the site. UNESCO has decried this attack against cultural property. The site was a place of religious worship for the Quechua people.

Why this profile?

An Inka religious and historic site (including a temple and a cemetery) has been destroyed by Marriott International, with the financing of Banco de Credito del Peru and the complicity of the Peruvian government.

What must happen

Banco de Crédito del Perú should not provide any further financial support for this project, and should fund the restoration of the site that was destroyed with its financing. Marriott International Inc. should abandon the project and return the Inka artifacts that were removed from the site. The government of Peru should demolish the buildings built on the site and return the site as close as possible to its original condition.

Impacts

Social and human rights impacts

Impact on protected heritage The city of Cusco, the former capital of the Inka empire, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To build the hotel, Corrales Ingenieros, Inmobiliaria R&G and Marriott demolished the existing Huacapunku Temple and conducted excavations to build the foundations. In this process, an Inka cemetery was desecrated, five ceremonial burial sites removed and valuable Inka artifacts removed from the site. This activity has been a direct attack on Peruvian cultural heritage. In addition, it has directly affected the Quechua people who used the site as a place of worship.

UNESCO and ICOMOS (the International Council on Monuments and Sites, which advises UNESCO) have sent letters to the Peruvian State requesting the demolition of the hotel. In September 2019 the Cusco Court of Appeals ordered the demolition of the hotel; an order which was welcomed by ICOMOS. However in November 2020 the district court in charge of executing that decision decided that only 10% of the hotel would be demolished. The decision of the district court will be re-examined by the Court of Appeals.

Impact on livelihoods The project has affected the livelihoods of the people living in the surrounding area. When the cultural site was intact there was a harmonious relationship between the normal activities in the neighbourhood and the landscape. The destruction of the site has altered the configuration of the city. The removal of the cemetery is a desecrating activity that has inflicted psychological suffering to the Cusco population.

Impacts on Indigenous peoples' rights The project has impacted human rights of the entire Peruvian population, but particularly the human rights of the Quechua people, one of the world’s largest indigenous populations. This is a limited list of impacts on human rights:

  1. The right of the conservation of their culture, recognised in article 15(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the UNESCO Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage.
  2. The right to religious freedom, freedom of worship and the right to manifest its religion, recognised in article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
  3. The right to ethnic and cultural identity, recognised in article 2(19) of the Peruvian Constitution.
  4. The right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), as recognised in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which allows Indigenous peoples to give or withhold consent to a project that may affect them or their territories.

Environmental and climate impacts

The construction of such a large-scale project in this area has caused unusual pollution to nearly 3,000 people living in the surroundings. The use of heavy machinery to extract and transport construction material and the debris generated has seriously impacted the community.

Governance

Bank policies

The following bank investment policies apply to this project:
Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP)
csr policies
2017-03-16 00:00:00

Corporate Code of Ethics

Applies to Credicorp and its subsidiaries
2017-03-16 00:00:00 | Credicorp
csr policies
2017-01-31 00:00:00

Anti-corruption policy

Applies to Credicorp and its subsidiaries
2017-01-31 00:00:00 | Credicorp
csr policies
2014-10-22 00:00:00

Stakeholder Relations Policy - Credicorp

2014-10-22 00:00:00 | Credicorp

Applicable norms and standards

Equator Principles
UNESCO World Heritage Convention
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Other applicable regulations

Peru's Resolución SBS N° 1928-2015 – Regulation for the Management of Social and Environmental Risk

Financiers

Loan agreements and mortgage deed records seen by BankTrack show Banco de Crédito del Perú financed the project through a series of loans between 19th June 2014 and 10th August 2017. 

Despite many protests, UNESCO’s denunciation and the administrative fines imposed by the new Peruvian administration to Inmobiliaria R&G, Banco de Crédito del Perú continues to be exposed to the project. The bank has responded to the publication of this profile with a letter here.

Related companies

Corrales Ingenieros Peru

Co-owner and construction company

Inmobiliaria R&G. S.A.C Peru

Co-owner

Marriott International United States

Hotel manager

News

| |
Type:
Year:
blog
external news
our news

Sindicato de la DDC Cusco pide destitución del director Fredy Escobar

[English] Workers union of the Ministry of Culture is demanding the demolition of the Sheraton hotel and the restoration of the Inka terraces
2021-01-08 | Ideario.pe
blog
external news
our news

El patrimonio de la humanidad de Cusco, en jaque por moderno y polémico hotel

2020-11-20 | Cusco | EFE.com
blog
external news
our news

Scandal: Ministry of Culture proposes not to demolish Sheraton hotel in Cusco

2020-10-12 | Lima | Lima Gris
blog
external news
our news

Caso Sheraton: todos los detalles sobre proceso de demolición de hotel en Cusco

2020-01-01 | El Comercio
blog
external news
our news

Au Pérou, un hôtel construit sur des ruines incas promis à la démolition

2019-09-20 | Le Figaro
blog
external news
our news

Cusco | Sheraton Case: This was found and so did the land before the construction of the hotel from Peru

2019-09-19 | Newsbeezer.com
blog
external news
our news

Ministerio de Cultura impone multas por 7 millones 560 mil soles a empresa que causó daño al Patrimonio Cultural de la Nación en Cusco

English translation: "Ministry of Culture imposes fines of 7 million 560 thousand soles to a company that caused damage to the Cultural Heritage of the Nation in Cusco"
2019-04-05 | Peruvian Ministry of Culture
blog
external news
our news

Peru: Beschwerde gegen Marriott wegen Zerstörung von Kulturerbe

2019-02-01 | Fair Unterwegs
blog
external news
our news

First ever complaint in Quechua filed to Peruvian OECD Natl. Contact Point; complaint against Marriot Intl. for alleged damage to indigenous culture

2019-01-12 | Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Documents

Type:
Year:
minutes of meeting
2019-05-08 00:00:00

Minutes of a conciliation meeting

2019-05-08 00:00:00 | San Mateo Centro de Conciliacion Extrajudicial
correspondence
2021-02-11 00:00:00

Letter from BCP to BankTrack on Notification of dodgy deal publication

2021-02-11 00:00:00 | BCP
other documents
2018-03-14 00:00:00

Requirement to Ruffo Gaona - suspect

2018-03-14 00:00:00 | Peruvian Ministry of Culture
other documents
2016-05-03 00:00:00

Opinion by Congresswoman Veronika Mendoza

2016-05-03 00:00:00 | Congresswoman Veronika Mendoza
other documents
2016-05-16 00:00:00

Opinion Ministry of Culture

2016-05-16 00:00:00 | Peruvian Ministry of Culture
other documents
2016-06-20 00:00:00

Letter from UNESCO to Republic of Peru

2016-06-20 00:00:00 | Unesco
bank documents
2019-07-24 00:00:00

Letter rejecting refinancing

2019-07-24 00:00:00 | Banco de Crédito del Perú
bank documents
2014-07-23 00:00:00

Mortgage deed record 4

2014-07-23 00:00:00 | Peruvian Land Registry
bank documents
2014-07-23 00:00:00

Mortgage deed record 3

2014-07-23 00:00:00 | Peruvian Land Registry
bank documents
2016-08-10 00:00:00

Mortgage deed record 2

2016-08-10 00:00:00 | Peruvian Land Registry
bank documents
2014-07-23 00:00:00

Mortgage deed record 1

2014-07-23 00:00:00 | Peruvian Land Registry
bank documents
2018-12-27 00:00:00

Loan agreement

2018-12-27 00:00:00 | Peruvian Land Registry
other documents
2016-07-20 00:00:00

ICOMOS Report

2016-07-20 00:00:00 | International Council of Monuments and Sites - Peru
other documents
2016-05-09 00:00:00

Report on removal of ceremonial burials

2016-05-09 00:00:00 | Peruvian Audit Authority
other documents
2019-05-30 00:00:00

Administrative Sanction

2019-05-30 00:00:00 | Peruvian Ministry of Culture

Media
















Video links

https://www.facebook.com/veromendozaf/videos/1216401251712229/

Links

www.workersofmarriott.org/campaigns/peru/

Workers of Marriott campaign page on the hotel, from the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations 

http://workersofmarriott.org/campaigns/peru/

Brief history

In 2014 Marriott International entered into a contract with Inmobiliaria R&G for the implementation and subsequent operation of a hotel in an area of Cusco’s city centre located in Saphy Street, a sector registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The project was named “Hotel Four Points by Sheraton – Cusco”. In order to build the hotel, Inmobiliaria R&G hired Corrales Ingenieros as constructor. Banco de Crédito del Perú financed this Project with corporate loans for an estimated amount of USD 18.5 million, approved between July 2014 and August 2017.

In September 2019, the Cusco Court of Appeals ordered the demolition of the hotel. However in October 2020 the district court in charge of executing that decision decided that in fact only 10% of the hotel will be demolished. The decision of the district court will be re-examined by the Court of Appeals.
 
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