The Joint Command of the Armed Forces of Peru (CCFFAA) has deployed an aircraft to transport indigenous delegations to Puerto Maldonado, where a meeting with Pope Francis will be held on January 19.
The CCFFAA informed indigenous communities representatives were transported from Purus (Ucayali region) to Puerto Maldonado (Madre de Dios region) last Wednesday.
In this sense, the 40 citizens —who traveled on Peruvian Air Force's C27J Spartan aircraft— belong to
ethnic groups: Madija, Ashaninka, Junicuin, Sharanawa, Amawaka, and
Shaninawa.
Pope Francis' activities include a gathering with indigenous populations at Madre de Dios' Regional Coliseum, which will be attended by 3,500 people.
It must be noted delegations from Bajo Urubamba (Lower Urubamba), Alto Madre de Dios (Upper Madre de Dios) and other areas of the country have already begun to arrive in the eastern city.
Other cities
On January 20, the Holy Father will head to La Libertad region's capital city
Trujillo on Peru's northern coast.
According to schedule, the Supreme Pontiff will also hold a multitudinous mass at
Lima's Las Palmas Air Base on January 21.
This will be the first time —in almost 30 years— that a Pope visits the Inca nation after Pope John Paul II's May 1988 visit.
(END) MAO/JAA/MVB