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Home › Dodgy Deals ›
Dodgy Deal
Marriott's Sheraton Hotel CuscoPeru

Project – On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date
Lead organisation:
BankTrack, in collaboration with community activists
Last update: 2020-12-28 16:03:04
The hotel construction site, pictured in 2014. Photo: Comision de Juristas del Cusco

Project – On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date
Lead organisation:
BankTrack, in collaboration with community activists
Last update: 2020-12-28 16:03:04
Why this profile?

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.

About
Sectors Hotels and Motels
Location
Status
Planning
Design
Agreement
Construction
Operation
Closure
Decommission

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.

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.

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.
Institution type
Finance type
Year
Companies

Corrales Ingenieros

Peru
Website
Co-owner and construction company

Inmobiliaria R&G. S.A.C

Peru
Co-owner

Marriott International

United States
Website
Hotel manager
No companies
News
BankTrack
Partners
Blog
External
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

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
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

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

2020-11-20 | Cusco | EFE.com
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

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

2020-10-12 | Lima | Lima Gris
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

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

2020-01-01 | El Comercio
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

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

2019-09-20 | Le Figaro
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

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

2019-09-19 | Newsbeezer.com
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

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
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Peru: Beschwerde gegen Marriott wegen Zerstörung von Kulturerbe

2019-02-01 | Fair Unterwegs
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

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
Resources
Documents
Videos
Links
2019-05-08 00:00:00

Minutes of a conciliation meeting

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

Letter from BCP to BankTrack on Notification of dodgy deal publication

Correspondence
2021-02-11 00:00:00 | BCP
2018-03-14 00:00:00

Requirement to Ruffo Gaona - suspect

Other document
2018-03-14 00:00:00 | Peruvian Ministry of Culture
2016-05-03 00:00:00

Opinion by Congresswoman Veronika Mendoza

Other document
2016-05-03 00:00:00 | Congresswoman Veronika Mendoza
2016-05-16 00:00:00

Opinion Ministry of Culture

Other document
2016-05-16 00:00:00 | Peruvian Ministry of Culture
2016-06-20 00:00:00

Letter from UNESCO to Republic of Peru

Other document
2016-06-20 00:00:00 | Unesco
2019-07-24 00:00:00

Letter rejecting refinancing

Bank document
2019-07-24 00:00:00 | Banco de Crédito del Perú
2014-07-23 00:00:00

Mortgage deed record 4

Bank document
2014-07-23 00:00:00 | Peruvian Land Registry
2014-07-23 00:00:00

Mortgage deed record 3

Bank document
2014-07-23 00:00:00 | Peruvian Land Registry
2016-08-10 00:00:00

Mortgage deed record 2

Bank document
2016-08-10 00:00:00 | Peruvian Land Registry
2014-07-23 00:00:00

Mortgage deed record 1

Bank document
2014-07-23 00:00:00 | Peruvian Land Registry
2018-12-27 00:00:00

Loan agreement

Bank document
2018-12-27 00:00:00 | Peruvian Land Registry
2016-07-20 00:00:00

ICOMOS Report

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

Report on removal of ceremonial burials

Other document
2016-05-09 00:00:00 | Peruvian Audit Authority
2019-05-30 00:00:00

Administrative Sanction

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

Sheraton con las horas contadas en Cusco Azio 07 abril 2019

2021-01-11 13:41:50

Arqueóloga del Hotel Sheraton huye de la prensa

2021-01-11 13:40:10

Cusco: Patrimonio en riesgo

2021-01-11 13:38:09

Presidente de Icomos Perú, Alberto Martorell | Polémica por ampliación de hotel en Cusco

2021-01-11 13:37:33

Sigrid Bazán en #BarraLibre - Polémica construcción de hotel en Cusco

2021-01-11 13:36:20

Cusco: pobladores exigen demolición de hotel Sheraton

2021-01-11 13:35:10

Construcción del Hotel Sheraton dañó templo donde vivió Manco Capac

2021-01-08 15:38:15

Video links

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

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 

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