China’s president wants to inaugurate a megaport in Peru, but locals say they are being left out

CHANCAY, Peru (AP) — On the edge of Peru’s coastal desert, a remote fishing village where a third of all residents lack running water is being turned into a huge deep-water port to cash in on the relentless rise of Chinese interest in resource-rich South America.

The Chancay megaport, a $1.3 billion project majority-owned by Chinese shipping giant Cosco, is transforming this outpost of bobbing fishing boats into a major hub of the global economy. Chinese President Xi Jinping will inaugurate the port on Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Peru.

The development – expected to include 15 wharves and a large industrial park that will attract more than $3.5 billion in investment over a decade – has met with a skeptical response from poor villagers who say it deprives them of fishing water and brings no economic benefit to the local population.

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“Our fishing grounds no longer exist here. They destroyed them,” said 78-year-old fisherman Julius Caesar — ​​”like the emperor of Rome” — gesturing toward the harbor cranes. “I don’t blame the Chinese for trying to mine this place for all it’s worth. I blame our government for not protecting us.”

The Peruvian government hopes the port 60 kilometers north of Lima will become a strategic transshipment hub for the region, opening a new line linking South America to Asia and speeding up trade across the Pacific in Peru’s blueberries, Brazil’s soybeans and Chile’s copper, among other exports. Officials cite the port’s potential to generate millions of dollars in revenue and turn coastal towns into so-called special economic zones with tax breaks to lure investment.

“We Peruvians are primarily focused on the welfare of Peruvians,” Foreign Minister Elmer Schialer told the Associated Press.

But many of Chancay’s 60,000 residents are not convinced. Fishermen returning to port with smaller catches complain that they have already lost.

The dredging of the port – which sucked sediment from the seabed to create a shipping channel 17 meters (56 feet) deep – has destroyed the fish’s breeding grounds, locals said.

“I’ve been out in the water all day and I always need to venture further,” said Rafael Ávila, a 28-year-old fisherman with sand in his hair, returning to shore empty-handed and exhausted.

“That used to be enough,” he said, pointing to his painted dinghy. “Now I need a bigger, more expensive boat to reach the fish.”

To make extra money, Ávila began offering occasional joyrides to selfie-taking visitors who wanted to catch a glimpse of the big Chinese ships.

With some of the world’s largest container ships to dock at Chancay Port in January 2025, residents also fear the arrival of pollution and oil spills. In 2022, a fake tanker delivery at the nearby La Pampilla refinery sent thousands of barrels of crude oil spilling into Peru’s famously biodiverse waters, killing countless fish and putting legions of fishermen out of work.

Today, a glance at the dying city center, which mostly features empty fish restaurants, tells the story of diminished fish stocks and decimated tourism, even without the port in operation.

The harbor’s breakwater changed currents and ruined good surfing conditions, locals said, affecting everyone from ice cream vendors to truck drivers to restaurant owners. “No to the megaport” is spray-painted on a wall overlooking the harbor front.

“This harbor is a monster that has come here to screw us up,” said 40-year-old Rosa Collantes, who was cleaning and cleaning slimy drumfish on the shore. “People come to the harbor and they say ‘Wow, amazing!’ but they don’t see the reality.”

Port authorities say they are aware of the stark contrast between the sleek modern port and the surrounding village of Chancay, where many live on unpaved roads lined with ragged shacks and littered with rubbish.

“You cannot build a state-of-the-art port and have a city next to it that has no drinking water, no sewage, a collapsing hospital and no educational centers,” said Mario de las Casas, a manager of Cosco in Chancay, and added that the company had already launched studies to determine how the port could help reduce inequality and spur local growth.

“The port should not be a blemish,” De las Casas said.