Abstract

INCACUTIPA LIMACHI, Duverly Joao; PUMA LLANQUI, Javier Santos  and  CAHUANIHANCCO ARQUE, Cliver. Migratory trajectories of the Aymara people of the Peruvian Altiplano. Alteridades [online]. 2022, vol.32, n.63, pp.107-118.  Epub Sep 19, 2022. ISSN 2448-850X.  https://doi.org/10.24275/uam/izt/dcsh/alteridades/2022v32n63/incacutipa.

The Aymara migrations, that occurred in the Peruvian highlands between 1991-1992 caused by the drought, highlight the importance of Lake Titicaca as a zone of biological and cultural diversity. The purpose of the article is to analyze, from a qualitative perspective, the high sensitivity to climate change experienced by the population living in this circumlacustrine geographic space. The findings reflect families’, whose subsistence economy collapsed due to the food crisis, devastating experience forcing them to emigrate. This process is doubly painful for the Aymara, who arrive in a hostile urban setting in which cultural prejudice and contempt for the “indigenous” predominate; nevertheless, success stories stand out.

Keywords : Andes; climate change; cultural identity; entrepreneurship; migration; drought.